Development and Testing of a Design Protocol for Computer Mediated Multidisciplinary Collaboration during the Concept Stages with Application to the Built Environment

Effective collaboration and maximum effort from stakeholders during the feasibility and concept design stages in architecture provide the greatest potential for added value for the overall success of a building project, from the initial design through to construction and operation. What is more, design processes within different disciplines have been extensively mapped and they provide a valuable insight for managing the information between different conceptual stages. Based on that information, a pre-defined conceptual design protocol is established, tested and compared to the current paradigm of conceptual design. The aim of such a protocol is to enhance the conceptual design activities by guiding the multidisciplinary design team through the conceptual stage, highlight the importance of that stage and, eventually, provide the maximum information that will feed into later and more advanced design stages, aided by tangible user interfaces (TUIs) mediated collaboration. The initial results of the research are showcased and further research potentials are pointed out.