| Summary: | Throughout the life-cycle of a design project, architects rely heavily on their tacit design
knowledge to support design decisions. Tacit knowledge is highly personal and implicit.
As such, it encompasses expertise, intuitive understanding, and professional insight
formed as a result of experience. Due to its implicit nature, tacit design knowledge is
typically shared only among colleagues who work in the same office through face-toface
interactions. With emerging Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)
technologies, designers face new opportunities for capturing and reusing tacit design
knowledge. However, there is no accepted CMC strategy for sharing tacit design
knowledge in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry.
This research investigates the impact of tacit design knowledge on design performance
in a distributed design environment supported by CMC software. The software was
developed and tested in three design studios in which design students sought advice from
experts in remote locations. It provides tools for showing images, such as drawings and renderings, and for engaging in a written dialogue (chat session). The written and
graphic artifacts of the conversation are stored in a Web-accessible database.
The chat sessions included the identification, clarification, and explanation of real
problems. Dialogue records provide evidence of a significant influence upon the
studentsâ approach to conceptual design. Content analysis of the comments from the
experts provides qualitative evidence for the softwareâÂÂs effectiveness. The participants
shared past experience, professional recommendations, and intuitive expectations. In
follow-up surveys, most participants reported that their experience with the software was
very enjoyable and the software is well-designed to support sharing of design
knowledge.
This research also suggests that tacit design knowledge may be confidently captured and
shared through careful strategic implementation of CMC technology in a distributed
design environment. Demographic and attitudinal surveys of the participants suggest that
enabling factors for sharing tacit design knowledge include knowledge sharing attitude,
just-in-time expertise matching, and timing of the communication.
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