Value by Design - Systematic Design Decision Making in the Architectural Design Process

The authors survey design decision making in architecture and related design professions, setting forth normative practices and identifying important proposals for innovative methods to navigate the complex constraints of design problems. First the authors set forth conventional decision making methodology in the engineering and architecture design process. Then the authors survey typical decision making processes in related design fields such as industrial design, engineering design, and product design and identity their different approaches. The paper compares decision making strategies in engineering and architecture design. The authors conclude by analyzing strengths and gaps of systematic decision making methods in the context of architectural design.

This literature review lays the theoretical foundation for researchers in the area of architectural decision-making and evaluation. The authors apply these findings to their study that proposes and tests an innovative design decision-making methodology that systematizes a process for evaluating early design proposals against client criteria.

keywords: design decision making, process, methodology