How do distributed design organizations act together to create a meaningful design?

Abstract

This paper describes the results of a longer-term research project that looked at CAAD as an enabler of completely new collaborative processes rather than as a support for existing collaborative processes. In order to question existing design processes and invent new collaborative processes systematically, we applied a process modeling methodology that employed recent developments in coordination theory. The methodology contained four steps: (1) Decomposition, (2) Dependency Analysis, (3) Process Substitution, and (4) Recomposition. In this paper, we describe how this approach was used to redesign a sample collaborative design process in building design, and present the resulting process coordination model. We describe the implications of this model for the development of collaborative environments, and illustrate its practical application in a case study. We conclude by reiterating the contributions made.