Computers as the Sole Design Tool: The
Mackintosh Experiment
R. Hanna, T. Barber and R. Qaqish
The Mackintosh School of Architecture, Glasgow University and
School of Art, 167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, G3 6RQ, UK, e-mail: gtca09@udcf.gla.ac.uk
Abstract
This paper reports on the findings of an
empirical investigation into the use of the computer as the only
design media in solving a design problem. Several 1st and 2nd
year students took part in a two week experiment on the use of a
CAD programme, AutoCAD 13 and AEC 5.0, to design a studio for a
graphic designer.
Prior to the experiment an extensive literature search was
carried out to explore the relationship between the design
process, visual thinking, conventional sketching (interactive
imagery) and Computer Aided Design. Out of this search a number
of design variables were identified, developed and then tested
through a series of observations and interviews with the students
while they were engaged in the design of the Graphic
Designer’s Studio. Questionnaires were also administered to
students to explore their views on issues including, using CAD
instead of conventional tools, design areas where CAD is most
effective, and how CAD can improve design skills.
The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to
analyse students returns. Early results suggest that:
1. The way in which the computer helped students to translate
their design concepts from 2D to 3D was quicker and easier than
conventional media. The notion of shifting to and working in 3D
proved very useful as students were able to investigate and
explore the relationship between form and space and
understand their spatial implications.
2. The time-scale for design decision making was influenced by
the use of the computer which was found to speed up the decision
making process in solving design problems.
3. A strong statistical correlation coefficient was obtained
between the design output from CAD sessions and students’
competence in terms of skills, attitudes and performance.
Design
Design is the distilled essence of the
discipline of architecture. However there is also a great deal to
the process of architecture that is not regarded as design. In
school, design is a personal process whereas in practice it is
viewed as a co-operative, even as a corporate, experience.
Referring to Simon (1966), it could be argued that design is
simple, only its environment is complex.
Design is often seen as the cognitive process by which a three
dimensional form is generated. This process embodies so many
intangible elements such as creativity, intuition and imagination
which are essential to research as well. (Zeisel 1981) According
to this author the nature of designing involves three activities:
imaging, presenting and testing. His reliance on a linguistic
rather than a cognitive definition of 'imaging' must be
questioned. Also, to equate 'imaging' with 'real creativity', as
he did, without a high level of abstract reasoning is misleading.
But is there such a thing called 'creativity'? The paper shall
return to this issue later.
A more elaborate definition of design came from Papanek (1971)
who remarked that design ‘is the conscious effort to impose
meaningful order’.
According to Archer (1965) design involves a prescriptive model,
intention of embodiment as hardware, and some sense of
originality/creativity. In some definitions of design, logical
process and scientific principles have also been incorporated
within from the beginning. Fielden at al. (1963) defined design
as: 'The use of scientific principles, technical information and
imagination in the definition of a structure, machine or system
to perform prespecified functions with the maximum economy and
efficiency'. Hillier and Leaman (1974) suggest that design is the
search for the appropriate transformation or unfolding of
prestructures in relation to the constraints imposed by the
environment of the problem. 'They conclude that if design method
is to be improved then it is more important to study the
environment itself than how designers design’.
One could argue that the act of designing incorporates three
levels of activity: Attention-Sensation; Perception-Conception;
Conjecture-Appraisal
In defining the act of designing, one often encounters cognitive
words such intuition and creativity which are difficult to
apprehend. What is meant by creativity? Regarding the question of
creativity, it is still clearly a mysterious and largely unknown
process. It has been defined as the ability to bring something
new into existence, (Barron 1965) a definition which Storr (1972)
accepts as a reasonable one for 'the manner in which this process
of creation comes about has been found so enthralling that
millions of words have been written about it'.
Puzzling and mysterious it might be, one could claim that
creative thinking is a product of past experience and knowledge
as well as presumably an inherent talent. In his speech to the
Academic Francaise in 1753, Buffon purported that 'the human mind
can create nothing, and only produces after having been
fertilised by experience and meditation, in that its perceptions
are the germs of its products'. (Collins 1965)
Therefore, if one is not dealing with mediocrity, it is
reasonable to conclude that the greater the knowledge and
experience, the greater will be the possibility of a creative
leap. (Newman 1990)
Developments in design methodology and process have attracted a
great deal of research and attention from various workers,
resulting in a number of design models. Despite the wide
disagreement between researchers in terms of terminology in their
models of the design process, the following model has some common
ground:
Analytical Phase: [Programming]+[Data Collection]-(Observation,
i.e. Inductive reasoning)
Creative Phase:[Analysis]+[Synthesis]+[Development]-(Evaluation,
i.e. Deductive reasoning)
Executive Phase: [communication]-(Description, Translation,
Transmission)
Design Research
While definitions for both design and
architectural research existed in the literature, very few
definitions for 'design research' were found after several
searches. Design research can be regarded as a systematic inquiry
that creates knowledge on the basis of design activity, the
structure of design problems, and the management of the design
process.
Literature on design research can be categorised under three
headings: studies on 'tools'; studies on 'processes'; research on
'mediums'.
a) Studies on 'tools': works on sketching
This literature deals with the role of
sketching in crystallising notions and forming ideas at the early
design stage. The foundation for this research area were laid
down by the pioneering work of Rudolf Arnhiem, from Harvard,
whose publications are being used as textbooks by artists,
designers and art psychologists. In ‘Visual Thinking’
(1970), Arnheim asserts that the separation between
seeing/perceiving and thinking/reasoning is unreal and
misleading. In ‘New Essays on the Psychology of Art’
(1986), Arnheim, through the works of three art psychologist
gurus, explores the mechanisms of art perception and cognition
and its relevance to Gestalt Psychology (a whole is more than or
different from the sum of its parts). In ‘Art and Visual
Perception’ (1954), he warns against art being drowned by
talk, and remarked that ‘visual things cannot be expressed
in words’ and ‘verbal analysis will paralyse intuitive
creation and comprehension’.
Investigators of sketching such as Goldschmidt (1992) endeavours
to make the literature on ‘visual perception’ relevant
to architects by introducing the act of sketching as a third
dimension to Arnheim’s two dimensions (of eye and brain)
incorporated in ‘visual thinking’. The resultant
relationship between the activities involved in sketching reads:
active sketching (hand)Ô passive perception
(eye) Ô active cognition (brain). She uses terms such as
'figural conceptualisation', to reiterate her rejection to any
dichotomy between ‘concept’ and ‘figure’.
Such terms, cut out of well established cognitive models and
pasted in architectural drawing literature, cannot be fully
understood without the context within which they have existed in
the first place.
Recent work on the role of drawing in architecture (Lawson 1994;
Fraser and Henmi 1994; Robbins 1994) claims that despite the use
of CAD for the manipulating and editing drawing and for creating
photorealistic images, animation and walkthroughs, conventional
drawing methods are still preferred for creative design and
design development.
The uniqueness of sketching as a design tool, as purported by
many authors, might be an outdated concept. Recent work on the
Electronic Cocktail Napkin, 'an experimental computer-based
environment for sketching and diagramming in conceptual design'
(Gross 1996), is an evidence that CAD can be used for sketching
and creative design. The 'Drawing Analogies' CAD system (Yi-Luen
Do and Gross 1995) is another example on how computers are
currently invading the privacy of conventional sketching at the
early design stage. This software is a shape based reminding
programme that employs hand drawn sketches or keywords (i.e.
'architect= Scarpa AND place= Venice') to index and query visual
databases.
The argument that regards both of diagramming/sketching and CAD
as 'tools' can be questioned since CAD has some form of
artificial intelligence, i.e. problem solving, while the sketch
is merely comprised of unstructured marks on paper. The
successful use of computers in education has forced the creation
of CAL (computer aided learning) as a distinct field of
knowledge. CAL packages have found a new role in education where
human-computer interaction via the 'stimulus-response' dialogue,
can release the creative potential of individuals and provide an
environment for self-paced teaching and learning.
Finally it is useful to examine empirically, via applied
research, how sketching can improve the act of designing.
b) Studies on cognitive 'processes':
measuring the design behaviour
This group of studies attempts to
investigate the design process by recording the designer's
behaviour and his spoken thoughts using several techniques, one
of which is the 'protocol' analysis. Introduced by Newell and
Simon (1972), and adopted by many investigators, protocol
analysis involves setting up quasi-laboratory experiments to
record the behaviour of the designer using video-tape
(Delft-XeroxPARC workshops- Akin), audio-tape (MIT Branch Library
Design- William Porter), sketches on paper, etc.. The long-term
objective of studies like Akin's (is to understand the intuitive
design process using tools from cognitive psychology and making a
series of subjective interpretations, arguments (figural and
conceptual), and predictions. The validity and reliability of
this type of study can be questioned on many grounds:
i) Mechanical and optical recording gathers data which are both
relevant and irrelevant to the event under investigation. This
makes the process of data analysis extremely difficult.
ii) Once they know they are being recorded, people show a
different level of awareness and behaviour from everyday life.
This casts strong doubts on the authenticity/validity of the
event to be recorded.
More sophisticated studies of the cognitive strategies involved
in architectural design have been reported in the literature. For
instance, Lawson (1979) compared the performance of fifth year
architecture students and fifth year science students in solving
a design oriented problem. An on-line computer programme, capable
of solving the problems, ran and monitored the experiment and
compared the subject solution with the computer generated optimal
solution. Analysis of subjects' protocols using statistical tests
such as Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, revealed that most
science students adopted a problem focusing strategy whereas most
architecture students operated a solution focusing strategy.
c) Research on mediums: Computer Aided
Design (CAD)
The origins of the theory behind CAD can be
traced back to Aristotle's concept of a generative system that
can provide a variety of potential solutions to a problem.
(Mitchell 1977) Generative systems have been utilised in
philosophy (the Lullian wheel), literary composition, musical
composition, engineering design, and architectural design.
Generative systems were systematically used by Lenardo da Vinci
for the generation of central plan churches, and by Durand for
the creation of plans, elevation and urban forms from different
combination of building elements (columns, walls, etc.) (Madrazo,
L. 1994). Classical architecture was also based on having a fixed
vocabulary of architectural elements that can be assembled in
different combinations to generate architectural forms.
(Summerston 1963) A modern application of this principle can be
found in Stiny's (1980) work on 'shape grammar' [generation of
shapes and subshapes according to relational rules]. After
defining the grammar, a computer can then be used to generate
forms and objects in the corresponding language.
CAD is not a tool; CAD is a medium. It provides an environment to
explore and test design ideas by means of interactive three
dimensional solid modelling and visualisation. The addition of
lighting, colour and texture maps enables the creation of
photorealistic images more easily and more frequently during the
design process than by hand. (Greenberg 1991) The visual
modelling of acoustic behaviour of sound waves within enclosures,
and the visual simulation of air movement using CFD
(Computational Fluid Dynamics) programmes, are fascinating areas
for further investigation. The ability to revisit cities and
buildings lost to fire and/or destruction using visualisation
techniques and virtual reality technologies, is an area with an
immense impact on the study of architectural history.
The notion that computers can be employed in an innovative way in
architectural practices has been reported in the literature.
LeCuyer (1996) compared two different approaches to the creative
use of computers in design by two world class architects. She
remarked that 'while Gehry employs computers in design
development, Eisenman uses computer-generated forms as his
starting point'. Also recent books on computers in architecture
(McCullogh et al 1991; Penz 1992) have shown that computers have
changed the way design is being taught in schools and practised
in offices.
Computers are currently having a new role in learning and
teaching by the introduction of new CAL (Computer Aided Learning)
packages for self-paced and distant learning. Working with
traditional methods of paper and pencil, limits architecture
students investigation of design mainly to 2D (plan, section,
elevation), while employing CAD enables them to work mainly in
interactive 3D (axonometric and perspective) as images are
generated more quickly and more frequently.
d) Research on Design Methods
This type of research is concerned with the
management of the ‘design process’ and the philosophy
of ‘design method’. It has attracted a great deal of
attention from research scholars which led to the emergence
during the 1960s and the 1970s of special research groups such as
the ‘Design Methods Group’ in the UK and the ‘Design Programming Group’ in the USA .
Summary
To explore some of the issues outlined
overleaf, this research has conducted a design problem solving
experiment with some undergraduate students where the computer
was employed as the sole medium for sketching, designing and
presentation. All design crits were also carried out on the
computer with the minimum use of conventional sketching (pencil
and paper).
Design brief : A Studio For A Graphic
Designer
Students were asked to design a studio in a
garden site for a graphic designer according to the following
design brief:
i) The studio is to have its own entrance so clients can gain
access directly from the street and all necessary servicing must
be made independently. At the same time access is to be provided
through the garden from the house although it is not necessary
for this link to be enclosed. A separate outside space is to be
created as part of the new workplace.
ii) The studio must be designed to accommodate client meetings,
the production of graphic work, general administration and a
small display of finished work. The computer, VDU and printer,
photographic stand, darkroom equipment, layout space, phone and
fax are the graphic designer’s most frequently used
equipment and copious storage space is essential. A toilet and
wash hand basin are also required together with general storage
for coats and cleaning equipment. The total floor area of up to
40 square metres maximum is to be provided.
iii) Both natural and artificial light must be considered to
create a pleasant working environment and some thought should be
given to the way in which the studio will be heated and
ventilated , as both issues will influence the form of the design
proposal, the size and location of openings and the nature of
heating and ventilating equipment.
The graphic designer has requested that the studio be visible
from the street, and distinctive while being discrete. The
entrance is to be clearly identifiable with a threshold that is
welcoming and copes with the vagaries of the Scottish winter
climate. While the interior is to meet its use requirements, be
elegant and create an uplifting atmosphere. The ‘skin’
of the building between interior and the outside space is to be
designed so that it can be in part, if not wholly, open up and
take full advantage of good weather.
The Process
On the first day we introduced the research
project. We explained to the student volunteers that we were
running a short design workshop using 2D and 3D Autocad AEC as
the only drawing and modelling tools and that it was not
necessary to have any previous CAD experience. We made it clear
that our purpose was to investigate the effectiveness of the
computer as the sole development tool in the design process and
that we were treating the experiment as open-ended research and
had no fixed expectation of the outcome. We pointed out however
that the students would have the opportunity to develop both
their computing and design skills
The design programme was then introduced. This took the form of a
general outline of the programme and the description of the
requirements of the brief. A precedent, the Studio in Chislehurst
Kent designed by Patel and Taylor, was used to illustrate how a
small building had been placed and circulation organised on a
site with similar but not identical characteristics and context
as their own. By doing this we were able to discuss the issues of
‘threshold’ and ‘route’, entry and domain.
The students were then shown ‘sketch’ and other basic
controls of AEC. Once these modes had been demonstrated they were
given time to practice. Later in that afternoon everyone was
asked to draw the site in three dimensions using AEC. This
provided a scaled representation of the site context which could
be used to explore, examine and develop design ideas.
At the start of the following morning a precedent studios talk
was given. The aim was to stimulate thought about alternative
organisational strategies that could be used. Three buildings
each with different appreciates were described. They were all
examined in relation to Louis Kahn’s ‘served and
servant’ concept. Bentham and Crouwel’s
‘relocatable house’ in Almere of 1985 illustrated an
‘Inhabited wall’ service zone. Monarch’s Leisure
Studio in Finland of 1994 demonstrated the use of a ‘free
standing service core’ placed within a simple volume to
organise spaces of varying size. Ellen Dunham-Jones and W Jude Le
Blanc’s studio in Charlottesville, Virginia of 1992 showed
how the served, service and circulation spaces could all be
articulated separately. Although none of the examples chosen had
the same brief and they all had different contexts we were able
to abstract the essential conceptual and organisational ideas and
also start to outline some different spatial and aesthetic
approaches.
After this the introduction to AEC continued. The students were
shown how to establish multiple windows on the screen each with a
different viewpoint of the site. This allowed them the
opportunity to see the implications of their proposals and any
changes made simultaneously in plan, axonometric and perspective.
They were taught how to select a viewport and zoom in on any
chosen part of the drawing to examine or modify it. During the
day they were also shown how to create walls, windows, doors,
floors, columns and roofs.
The third day began in the computer room learning how to
construct solids and openings in solids, making an animated walk
through, creating layers, annotating and printing and plotting
copies of drawings.
During the afternoon visits were made to the Architecture
Department’s darkroom and the Glasgow School of Art’s
Graphics Department. The intention was to see the type and size
of equipment needed in a small darkroom and how it could be
organised. The students also had the opportunity to ask a
photographer about the pragmatics of developing photographs, the
shortcomings of the existing layout and discuss more ideal
arrangements.
In the Graphics Department they looked at equipment and existing
layouts and talked to a designer who described the practicalities
and ideal requirements of both the ‘traditional’ and
computer aided graphic design processes. Fuelled with all these
insights the students returned and continued to practice their
newly gained skills and make some initial sketch ideas.
The next three days were set up as tutorial days when both
computer and design lecturers were present as students explored
initial ideas. The students were developing both their
understanding and skill using the computer while at the same time
exploring ideas. During this period we had asked them to use the
library for further research and study of precedents. We also
recommended a visit to the ‘Twin Peaks’ exhibition
which was being held in the college. This was a show of
‘creative excellence and business effectiveness in design
and art’. The graphic imagery, layouts and products on
display illustrated the nature of the work a graphic designer
might be involved in and offered itself up as inspiration and
additional potential design triggers.
We deliberately dissuaded the students from using any other means
than the computer to form ideas so that we would be better able
to assess the implications of designing with the computer only.
This restricted them to the computer room and its hours of
opening. If they were unable to contain themselves we asked them
to bring in with them all other development work. Most however
were able to work within the restriction. All tutorials were also
given round the computer screen using either the simple sketch
command or asking the student to modify their proposal in a
specific way.
For the final three days of the design period the students were
primarily working on their own with limited access to lecturers.
Towards the end of the session a seminar was held to talk about
how they might best describe their proposals. Different methods
of using the VDUs effectively were discussed. They then had time
to think about their presentation and make the necessary
preparations.
Our reviews of the students’ work were held in the computer
room around the computer screen. Varied presentation formats were
used. Some students conveyed their ideas using a sequence of
views on screen including a ‘walk through’ animation,
others subdivided the screen into multiple viewports and zoomed
in on specific images as necessary or in response to a request
for further information. The reviews were more interactive than
usual and it was easier to identify the issue being discussed as
the relevant image would be the focus on the screen.
General appraisal of the AEC programme and
the computer hardware used in the research programme.
AEC allows the designer to see his or her
proposal in multiple views at the same time on the screen. These
could quite easily include plan, section, elevation, axonometric
and perspective side by side. This allows the designer to see the
implications and potential of any design move more fully and in
so doing open up options which might otherwise not have been so
evident.
If a change or modification to a drawing is made it is made to
all the drawings simultaneously so saving time adjusting each
drawing separately. This theoretically allows more time to be
spent on the refinement and development of the design.
It facilitates the creation of 3D shaded ‘walk through which
provide a better understanding of the nature of the building form
and spaces being proposed. It also offers other insights into the
spatial sequences and the experience they create and becomes much
closer to the kinaesthetic experience of walking through a
building. The next step would to be to link up to a virtual
reality head set.
The option to create layers gives the designer the opportunity to
produce additional degrees of information and detail. This in
turn allows the designer to convey an idea fully or abstract
specific information for further examination and development. It
also reduces the need to duplicate drawings e.g. the essential
idea can be conveyed using only linear presentation to asses the
quality of the spatial organisation and form or additional layers
could be used to show materiality, mass, transparency, colour,
texture, use of natural light, denote size by dimension and
describe activity and use with annotation or habitation with
people and furniture and fittings.
If AEC is linked with other programmes i.e. structures, lighting
and environmental management it would undoubtedly offer other
design development and appraisal possibilities, many of which are
already evident in architectural practice when architects and
consultants work together and exchange information by E-mail.
As a linear design tool AEC is excellent. It demands that the
designer make decisions to make the next drawn move. Without the
decision there is no progress. Once the proposal/
modification/change is made it can be recorded and viewed in
different ways and drawing systems simultaneously on the screen
which allows a greater understanding of the design implications.
These can then be appraised and the next move considered and
made. The process of forces the pace of decision making and is
ideal in a linear design development situation.
The AEC ‘sketch’ option has limitations as a means of
drawing. The use of the mouse to draw free hand takes more time
and demands far more control than pencil and paper. It does not
have the range of thickness and intensity and it therefore cannot
express the weight and emphasis intended in aspects of a drawn
idea. The lack of fluidity hinders the range, speed and flow of
drawing as a design tool in the initial stages when designers
need the freedom to explore ideas. They need to be able to think
laterally and work around an idea and take advantage of chance.
With AEC the demand for a command to allow a progression to the
next stage requires the designer to be constantly conscious of
each decision. This I believe makes it more difficult to key into
the subliminal and take advantage to the subconscious and
serendipity.
There are scratch pads with digitises as well as VDUs which
respond to light pens that are more responsive as drawing mediums
and would have a closer resemblance with free hand drawing. This
hardware and related programmes would have a closer affinity to
the conventional design situation and might enable similar
opportunities to maximise on the subconscious and unplanned
AEC has programmed in a range of built in geometric and type
options. If a designer does not wish to work within this frame
work he forfeits one of its advantages-speed of response. This is
in effect a penalty and it may encourage the less ambitious to
take the easy route and work within the given programme. To
overcome this the designer has to have a greater level of skill
to generate his own formal language and components and therefore
has to be more determined and work harder. This is not
necessarily uncommon in the design field as any designer who is
pushing out the frontiers usually has to work harder in order to
prove their ides and achieve.
The development of design and designing skills are encumbered if
the designer is computer illiterate as such a large proportion of
time is given to learning how to operate the AEC programme. This
obviously can be overcome as the individual is given more
computer training and time to develop and practice. If the
computer is going to be used more as a design tool in the future
them this skill base should occur earlier in training just as
other communication skills like drawing and model making have
been conventionally.
The computer room’s internal environment is not a good
conducive design atmosphere. This might be the case in many other
institutions. External, contemplative views and reduced computer
hum would dramatically improve the working conditions. It would
be more desirable if the designer has space to display and refer
to other inspirational and reference material. There is evidence
that the messy desk syndrome and incidental conversation has
great potential as design trigger and cross fertiliser of ideas.
Statistical Analysis with SPSS-PC
Questionnaires were administered to
students and the response was collected and analysed
statistically by SPSS-PC. A summary of the findings is presented
as tables and bar charts.
| The Frequencies of Students’ Attendance, Gender and Age |
|
The table describes information about the students who took part
in the experiment in terms of their number, gender and age.
Although we started the experiment with 4 males and 11 females,
during the first two days of the experiment only one male (25%)
and five females (55%) have completed the experiment. This
indicates that there was a higher attendance ratio amongst female
students when compared to the attendance ratio amongst males. As
to the factors that have contributed to this a number of
assumptions can be put forward. It may be that the nature of the
experiment was to encourage ‘co-operative’ rather than
‘competitive’ learning of CAD, something which failed
to interest male students. The experiment examined several
variables, most of which are presented in the Descriptive
Statistics table. To test the mean difference in selected
variables amongst the six students who completed the experiment,
a Paired-Samples T-Test procedure was carried out (compare the means of two variables for
the six students under two different states: before and after
exposure to the CAD experiment). The use of this test can be
justified on the basis that it is a powerful statistical test
which produces results when one has a small sample size. (Clegg
1995)
Paired Sample T-Test for related samples
The paired samples statistics table
displays descriptive statistics for the test variables, and
followed by the correlation table which displays the relationship
between the paired differences with a 95% confidence interval of
the difference of the means. The following three tables represent
the results of the t-test carried out on the five pairs of
variables, indicating the students’ attitude before and
after the experiment.
The null hypothesis states that there is no behavioural
differences amongst the six students who completed the CAD design
work shop, before and after the experiment in the five areas of:
the overall feeling about the use of CAD (from positive to
negative on a 5-point scale); areas of CAD impact (sketching, 2D
design, 3D design and presentation); who to instruct the CAD
course (design tutor, CAD tutor, or both); CAD competence (in
terms of skills, attitudes and performance, a 5-point scale); CAD
preparation (sufficiently prepared to use CAD).
The table above shows that there is a strong evidence to suggest
a significant positive correlation, which is significant at 0.05
between CAD competence before and after the exposure to the CAD
experiment/workshop. This may indicate that there is an
association between the participation in the CAD workshop and
students’ newly acquired competence in handling design
problems through the computer. However, a negative weak
correlation was found in the areas of CAD impact on the design
studio criteria namely, time saving, 3D, 2D and presentation.
This may be related to the fact that most students response on
these areas was similar before and after the experiment. Other
significant positive correlation was found in the overall feeling
about suing CAD before and after the experiment.
The table above describes the results of the paired sample t-test
carried out. The table indicates that t was significant in pair 1
& 5. So the null hypothesis can be rejected in these two
areas: the overall feeling about using CAD and the CAD
competence. As for improving the design and attitude or areas of
CAD impact the hypothesis can not be rejected, thus there was no
real impact from CAD workshop on these areas. Although as
described in the descriptive table and the figures below , the
impact should be clearly seen in selected part of these areas,
and male student may have been influenced more than females in
certain areas such as the CAD impact ( figure below), and because
of the small sample the male student did not have any real impact
on the out come of the t-test carried out.
This chart implies that apart from the areas of CAD impact, the
gender issue produced no significant difference in attitudes
towards the various aspects of CAD and their implication on the
design process.
The bar chart above gives some idea on the issues of gender and
the design areas to which the application of CAD can produce
positive results. The table below gives a summary of the
descriptive statistics used for all the variables in this
experiment.
Conclusions
Due to the small sample size any
conclusions that can be drawn from this study should be viewed
with caution. However, an attempt is made here to summarise the
findings.
As shown from the literature search ‘sketching’ proved
to be a vital aspect of the act of designing. CAD programmes
should therefore take this point on board and improve their
‘sketching’ environment, its commands and sub-menus. It
was clear from the experiment that most students formulated and
tested their design concepts during the initial design stage, and
to do so they needed to use the ‘sketch’ command in AEC
which proved difficult to use and control.
The development of design and designing skills are encumbered if
the designer is computer illiterate as such a large proportion of
time is given to learning how to operate the AEC programme.
The Paired-Sample t-test (before and after the experiment) showed
that after taking part in the experiment, students’ attitude
towards CAD and its relation to the design process were different
from those observed before the experiment. The ‘overall
feeling about CAD’ and ‘the newly acquired competence
in CAD’ were the two areas where a significant difference
was observed.
Most students felt that CAD software is a useful tool for 2D and
3D design and presentation. They also highlighted the potential
of CAD packages for object editing and manipulation which can
save time.
Finally, it is hoped that this paper has gone some way in
formulating a ‘framework’ within which the problems of
using the computer as the only design tool, can be addressed.
Also, it is evident that there is a need for further
‘applied research’ into this area where objective
techniques of data gathering, data handling, and statistical
analysis can be exploited and employed further.
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