Influencing the design decision process: Information visualization in multi-criteria decision support systems for early-stage building design

This thesis investigates the challenges associated with the implementation of multi-criteria decision support systems (MCDSS) for early-stage building design. To support this effort, a method is proposed to compare the influence of the MCDSS user interface on design decision-making processes based on effectiveness, efficiency, and diversity metrics identified in and modified from the multi-criteria decision-making and design process literature. The use of the metrics is demonstrated in multi-objective parametric design charrettes with human subjects. Analysis of the charrette data reveals that visualization methods affect the efficiency and diversity of the design process but have no influence on effectiveness unless decision maker expertise is taken into account. The interaction between decision maker characteristics and information visualization is further examined to show how the background and current state of the decision maker can modify the design process. The results suggest that information visualization in MCDSS could be tailored according to user discipline and experience to improve performance across all dimensions of the design process.