Fuzzy Cognitive Maps: A Design Research Tool to Address Systems of Scaled Complexit

It is the contention of this thesis that Fuzzy Cognitive Mapping is one tool to manage the design research process under conditions of scaled complexity as design plays a larger role in the "wicked problems" of the 21st century. Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) are an appropriate tool for design research as they are born out of the constructivist philosophy and the notion that knowledge creation is a socially rooted process of human-centered discovery in which connections are made between different ideas and areas of knowledge. The "fuzzy" component (Fuzzy Logic) of FCMs allows for better decision making when the information is not always complete and data is noisy, when thresholds are ambiguous and interactions are not accurately assessed. FCMs are graphical representations of structured knowledge, represented by concepts linked by directed, weighted, and signed (positive, negative) edges. The hope is that such a tool will be a meaningful addition to designers' knowledge-base when applying their design abilities to solve complex, societal issues.