Evaluation of Effective Design in Architectural Process

Evaluation of effective design procedure is a difficult method to measure the performance of drawings. How can the architect manage this method effectively? How can they understand deeply in the role of design process? It is really a challenging task for them. For these above reasons, their experiences must be trained and modern technology methods applied in order to achieve as much best result as possible. Regarding to the way that the architect can manage the design process efficiently and effectively, they use a standardized method of measurement and common database.

During the past decade, the Vietnam government has opened its door for cooperating with oversea knowledge and business. This policy has resulted in many construction fields included design architectural professional. In practice, the concept of design measurement activities in design phase was an expectation for the perfectibility of output-drawings. Unfortunately, the traditional design consultant only pays attention to the process of design and planning projects lead to lack of concentration how to estimate this design process. Therefore, project participants faced many adverse factors influenced from design process such as: late or inaccurate drawings, maintainability, expensive changes originate, no specific details in technical drawing, and so forth.

With high demand in improvement of design aspect, Vietnam construction requires all design professional commit in quality of design functions. Mr. Nguyen Kim The Anh made a study which major objective was to improve the quality design process for consulting and design architectural companies. To achieve the objectives, the four specific sub-objectives were need to be accomplished:

1. Analyzing the current design management systems of Vietnamese design-consultant Company to identify the necessary improvement.

2. Defining performance of design output to clarify the meaning of design effectiveness.

3. Defining effectiveness criteria for Design Objective Matrix to apply for Vietnamese design-consultant Company.

4. Defining effectiveness criteria could apply on design architectural process for Vietnamese design-consultant Company.

Conclusion


1. Current design managements system

There are six sub-conclusions about the current management system:

i. The respondents perceive that problems of Design Company highly involve to “Business partner”, “Customers satisfaction” and “Management aspects”. They are main reason for low competitive abilities and influence into the company’s image. For better competitive abilities and business positions on free market economy, the research could identify clearly these problems at basis level to propose new improvement solutions.

ii. The traditional management methods such as: “Planning”, “Scheduling”, “Controlling”, “Technologies”, “Value engineering” and “Management Quality” are understood and applied at high perception degree. This fact reflects that these methods exist and apply on Vietnam’s architectural system for long time with repeatedly mentioning, training, and practicing at high knowledge in order to maximize customer satisfaction.

iii. Meanwhile, the degree of “design effective method” could be understood at low perceptions. This fact reflects that this method was not introduced and applied on design companies.

iv. The specific management problems currently happening on design process are “lack of autonomy”, “slowly react with change”, “outdate and unsuitable” and “low motivation”. They come from outdated business management. Design companies do not change their business attitude regarding the transferring from central planning system to free market system. The strict control system and cumbersome structural hierarchies from current managements system could make less power of self-decision-making of designers while they still react slowly against business changes. These limitations will decrease their competitive abilities on free market.

v. In order to make better management methods, respondents mostly suggest two solutions: “modify or add new management methods” and “maintain current management system, but try doing better”. These results reflect that design managers still trust on current systems even some existing but recommend applying new methods for concurrently operating.

vi. The respondent indicate that the high contributions of “management’s motivation”, “management’s commitment”, “designer’s motivation”, “designer’s commitment” and “effort” are value resources to enhance and improve the current managements system.

2. Design effectiveness method

2.1The important of management aspects in design effectiveness

Design managers understand that “human aspects” could be concerning “management ability of design managers”, “experience design”, “setting up schedule for project” and “allocate of budget” are important management aspects to contribute into making better design effectiveness.

2.2 Detail for evaluation of design effectiveness

The results from survey indicate that seven criteria (e.g. “accuracy of design documents”, “usability of design documents”, “cost of the design”, “constructability of design”, “economy of design”, “performance against schedule” and “ease of start-up”) take high perception from respondents. These criteria have proven to be meaningful and fairly comprehensive. Thus, they play important role to all designers, design activities, construction category and construction activity. Each criterion is necessary for designers’ evaluation, and can be assessed immediately after accomplishment of design projects.

2.3 Detail for design architectural

Base on Vietnamese design architectural situation, the high perception and application of ten criteria (e.g. “structures”, “arrangement”, “interface”, “material use”, “technologies”, “energy management”, “time site program”, “originality & uniqueness invention”, “historical reference” and “economy”) play important role into the successful of design architectural process. The mission of these criteria could measure degree and scope of integration that is necessary for creating design activities. Furthermore, there are many sub-criterions could be identified and ranked in order to understand their contribution into the successful of architectural design.

Recommendation

1. Current design managements system

i. Design companies need to solve and eliminate current problems (e.g. “customer satisfactions”, “business partners” and “management aspects”) to fulfill advanced demand of free market economy. In order to do so, they need to create all of problems becoming to database. Setting up the strategic and planning to solve these problems at basic level. Additionally, design companies should create new department focusing into the “customer satisfactions”, “business partners”. Their missions have to attend advance requirements, build up and maintain effective communication systems. It moreover recommends they need to select good business partners and setting up coordinates environment for sharing information.

ii. Regarding with specific management problems (e.g. “lack of autonomy”, “slowly react with change”, “outdate and unsuitable” and “low motivation”). Changing business attitude, purge of managements system, limitation of cumbersome and boosting of self-decision-making ability are introduced to improve the basic level of current problems.

iii. Design companies still maintain and enhance the “traditional management methods” and “human management aspect” at maximum advanced level. They need showing their commitments by contributing time, efforts, money, etc., for learning, implementing and maintaining these methods. Coordination with foreign partners is moreover suggested to gain mutual benefits for both sides.

2. Design effectiveness method

i. Design companies should plan and apply the design effective method as soon as possible to minimize the business risk and current problems occurring on design process.

ii. In order to achieve the best outcome on design process, designers need to focus the criteria of design architectural like guideline for design activities. However, based on actual situation, these criteria or sub-criterions may be to utilize or not to adapt with demands of design missions.

iii. Design managers need to create “Design effective method” to be the guided procedures in order to make suitable for design users.

iv. Design effective method model is partly proposed in this research and apply in design companies to draw their pros and cons. Feedbacks from practical application can help research modifying and making them more suitable for Vietnamese architectural design field.

His thesis abstract is copied and pasted below:

Abstract

Design effectiveness method has the potential to significantly benefits for consulting – design architectural companies to issue the best value outputs design to customers, while improves quality, reduces cost and shortens time. However, it is not widely know and applied on Vietnamese design construction field. Thus, the research focuses on main issues of current management system and design effectiveness method to find the best efficiencies and acceptability criteria suitable with Vietnamese consulting – design architectural companies. The data is mainly collected from thirty respondents at twenty-three companies who currently work on medium and large size design-consultant Vietnamese Company. The research could be utilizing questionnaires design as an efficiency tool to collect responses. The method of breaking responses’ survey is multiple rating list scale. The values “means” were considered as the benchmark to asset and rank the ratio of respondent’s perception on their responses. These results could reflect overall viewpoints of respondents toward research’s objective.

The finding shows higher knowledge and application of traditional management over new management. Meanwhile, design effectiveness method is not introduced widely in design companies. The research recommends solutions to improve management system to satisfy the research objectives. This action will enhance more application of design effectiveness method and boost up the effectiveness, efficiency abilities for Design Company to overtake with famous rivals on design architectural field.