: In this paper we present an interaction-oriented approach to the process of designing a document for the end-user. We emphasize exchange between subjects and the subjects' relationship with their environment. The analysis of verbal exchanges offers a way to apprehend such a situated collective. We attempt to unveil the cognitive processes underlying this task with special attention paid to the collective's ability to find in its environment the resources permitting the emergence of shared knowledge. We focus on this object's role as a vehicle for emergence and on its inscription in an interactional dynamics.