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_id	0a6e
authors	Walters, Roger
year	1986
title	CAAD: Shorter-term Gains; Longerterm Costs?
source	Computer-Aided Architectural Design Futures [CAAD Futures Conference Proceedings / ISBN 0-408-05300-3] Delft (The Netherlands), 18-19 September 1985, pp. 185-196
summary	Assessment of CAAD systems in use is complex: it needs careful qualifications and is often contradictory. It is suggested that little progress has been made in making sense of the impacts of computing on design and design organizations. Impacts are more diverse and complicated than has been assumed. Assessments tend to be either overtly optimistic or pessimistic, yet the need is to be realistic. Moreover, impacts have been the subject of speculation and marketing rather than systematic study. Carefully documented case studies of projects or longitudinal studies of organizational impacts remain the exception. This chapter draws upon recorded user experience reported elsewhere (Walters, 1983)' and presents an assessment of the performance in use of current production systems. It presents an end-user view and also identifies a number of outstanding design research topics It is suggested that different systems in different organizations in different settings will give rise to new impacts. A wide variety of outcomes is possible. It seems unlikely that any simple set of relationships can account for all the data that inquiry reveals. The task becomes one of identifying variables that lead to differential outcomes, as the same cause may lead to different effects (Attewell and Rule, 1984). This becomes a long-term task. Each optimistic impact may be countered by some other more pessimistic impact. Moreover, the changes brought about on design by computing are significant because both beneficial and non- beneficial impacts are present together. Impacts are held in a dynamic balance that is subject to constant evolution. This viewpoint accounts for otherwise conflicting conclusions. It is unlikely that the full range of impacts is yet known, and a wide range of impacts and outcomes already need to be taken into account. It seems that CAD alone cannot either guarantee improved design or that it inevitably leads to some diminished role for the designer. CAD can lead to either possible outcome, depending upon the particular combination of impacts present. Careful matching of systems to design organization and work environment is therefore needed. The design management role becomes crucial.
series	CAAD Futures
last changed	1999/04/03 17:58

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