The Joint Struggle of Complex Engineering: a Study of the Challenges of Collaborative Design

Problem solving through design of systems and physical artifacts is a professional activity with major ̄nancial signi ̄cance. Problems in modern society tend to grow more complex and intricate, and as a response, systems grow larger. Therefore, design increasingly has also become a collaborative task. Design in itself already is challenging but collaboration adds its own challenges into the mix. In this paper, we explore the challenges of collaborative design. We approach the research problem through design science research framework; we synthesize the knowledge base and expert experiences from the environment to propositions about the challenges of collaborative design. By forging theme propositions we lay a ground for design and development of better support for collaborative design.