ITcon Vol. 18, pg. 372-396, http://www.itcon.org/2013/19

Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings

revised:August 2013
published:November 2013
editor(s):Amor R
authors:Terrence Fernando, Prof.
School of the Built Environment, THINK lab, University of Salford, UK
t.fernando@salford.ac.uk

Kuo-Cheng Wu, Dr.
School of the Built Environment, THINK lab, University of Salford, UK
k.c.wu@salford.ac.uk

May Bassanino, Dr.
School of the Built Environment, THINK lab, University of Salford, UK
m.n.bassanino@salford.ac.uk
summary:Project review meetings are part of the project management process and are organised to assess progress and resolve any design conflicts to avoid delays in construction. One of the key challenges during a project review meeting is to bring the stakeholders together and use this time effectively to address design issues as quickly as possible. At present, current technology solutions based on BIM or CAD are information-centric and do not allow project teams to collectively explore the design from a range of perspectives and brainstorm ideas when design conflicts are encountered. This paper presents a system architecture that can be used to support multi-functional team collaboration more effectively during such design review meetings. The proposed architecture illustrates how information-centric BIM or CAD systems can be made human- and team-centric to enhance team communication and problem solving. An implementation of the proposed system architecture has been tested for its utility, likability and usefulness during design review meetings. The evaluation results suggest that the collaboration platform has the potential to enhance collaboration among multi-functional teams.
keywords:collaborative environment, multi-functional teams, system architecture, construction
full text: (PDF file, 0.704 MB)
citation:Fernando T, Wu K-C, Bassanino M (2013). Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings, ITcon Vol. 18, pg. 372-396, https://www.itcon.org/2013/19