A computer-implemented method for designing a three-dimensional modeled object. The method comprises providing a modeling graph having nodes that represent geometrical objects and arcs that each represent a relationship linking the two geometrical objects represented by the incident nodes of the arc, wherein procedural relationships are represented by unidirectional arcs having the same orientation as the procedural relationships, and wherein the relationships linking the geometrical objects further include live relationships that are represented by bidirectional arcs. The method also comprises upon a modification of the data defining the 3D modeled object, determining a strong graph, wherein the strong graph is the graph of strong components of the modeling graph, and updating the 3D modeled object according to a traversal of the strong graph.