Mapping the conceptual design activity of interdisciplinary teams

The conceptual design phase of any project is, by its very nature, a vibrant, creative and dynamic period. It can also be disorganized with much backtracking accompanying the exchange of information between design team members. The transfer of information, ideas and opinion is critical to the development of concepts and as such, rather than being recognized as merely a component of conceptual design activity, it needs to be understood and, ultimately, managed. This paper describes an experimental workshop involving fifteen design professionals in which conceptual design activity was tracked, and subsequently mapped, in order to test and validate a tentative design framework (phase and activity model). The nature of the design progression of the various teams is captured and analyzed, allowing a number of conclusions to be drawn regarding both the iterative nature of this phase of design and how teams of professionals actually design together.

Interdisciplinary design in practice

Part 1 Interdisciplinary design in practice - Introduction - Robin Spence - Changing construction culture - Richard Saxon - The partnership approach - Sir Alan ...

Interdisciplinary design in practice

CHAPTER TWELVE Successful teamwork from day one: running an interdisciplinary design workshop Sebastian Macmillan and Christopher French Overview Buildings ...

Interdisciplinary design in practice

CHAPTER THIRTEEN Managing an interdisciplinary design team effectively Sebastian Macmillan Introduction This chapter gives advice on how to assemble and ...

Towards an interdisciplinary design process

CHAPTER 14 In this chapter we report on the results of a research project concerned with mapping the early stages of the design process.