Reinventing the wheel: A tool for design quality evaluation in architecture

Abstract

Addressing design evaluation as a critical yet under-researched domain, this study analyzes the design evaluation structure and its variables and criteria that guide its outcomes. Within a scope of architectural design in practice and education, this study develops a new tool for design quality evaluation. The study consists of four main parts. The first is explorative which reviews and analyzes literature in the assessment and evaluation fields. The second is derivative and used to develop a tool for design quality evaluation (DQE) that combines design criteria and detailed evaluation rubrics. The tool which is named “Evaluation Wheel” is intended to help designers, educators and other design-related stakeholders judge design products succinctly, comprehensively, systematically and graphically. The third part is experimental and is used to test the applicability of the proposed wheel. A set of design products are evaluated by a group of designers using two methods; one uses various design criteria, and the other uses the wheel tool introduced in this research. The fourth part is analytical and evaluative which uses deductive, inductive and abductive reasoning techniques to analyze and compare the findings of the third part. The findings are presented and discussed. The results that indicate a reduction of the discrepancies of the scores among the evaluators seem to support the uptake of the proposed wheel in the design evaluation fields.