Design is an interactive endeavor involving the evolution of ideas between two or more participants in discussion, especially during the conceptual design stage. Idea association is an important behavior for generating diverse ideas through the dynamic exchange of varied knowledge possessed by the participants. To better understand the dynamics that take place, this research applies a cognitive theory (role playing) that models the distributed interactions. By using the Dynamic Agent Role Interplay System (DARIS), some computational components within the distributed interactions are computed and evaluated. Finally, a distributed linking model named Dynamic Idea Maps II (DIM-2) is computerized to support the idea association in a distributed collaboration environment. The computational mechanism will be elaborated by means of a design experiment.
