Making digital collaboration “more betterer”
Simple views onto complex problems
David Harrison

urbandictionary.com: more betterer
Used when someone running a project or task needs to explain to
people he is answerable to, who don't have the skills or knowledge to
understand what is going on, that the project is still at an early stage
(prototype or rough cut) and will significantly improve in quality of
appearance and content by the time it is finished.
This is the initial look and feel which is very rough but we are going to
spoodle it all up and make it more betterer before we finish.

http://onemansblog.com/2007/09/05/wheres-osha-when-you-need-em/
Digital collaboration Architecture is an
could be “more betterer” outcome-centric industry

Writing board with an architectural drawing
New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1550–1295 B.C
Burj Dubai St Paul’s Cathedral
Adrian Smith, (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill), 2009 Sir Christopher Wren, 1673
We have developed a rich visual vocabulary for communication
but lack similar experience in the field of digital collaboration Images wikipedia.org

What has changed about architectural collaboration?

What has changed about architectural collaboration?

Digital collaboration has shifted our perceptions
+ increased the volume, frequency & speed we can exchange data

I am not interested in “long term” (hypothetical) digital collaboration
...but it is pretty....

I am interested in real world collaboration (First Life)
...which unlike this image is not nearly as sexy....

Ah, that’s better....
...managed chaos, uncontrolled order, or a bit of both?

Building Information Models Or so we are led to believe
result in better digital collaboration

BIM is not a golden bullet
Controlled
Complicated
Computer-centric
Centrally managed
Costly to produce + maintain
...and difficult to interpret without a face

Frequently Exchanged File Formats Factors Impacting Data Sharing: Total Respondents
Reinventing Collaboration Across Internal & External Project Teams Interoperability in the Construction Industry
Patrick Aragon, 2006 Adobe Systems SmartMarket Report, 2007 McGraw Hill Construction
BIM Demand by Firms
SmartMarket Report, 2007 McGraw Hill Construction
As a digital collaboration tool BIM does not address industry issues

Gartner Group, 2006
Why the need for digital Principles are decision aids
collaboration principles? in a rapidly moving environment

Digital collaboration principles assist:
Team, client & vendor relationships, tools development and business planning

1. Simplicity Collaboration is hard enough
2. Ubiquity without technology barriers

3. Decentralisation Scaling efficiently and quickly is
4. Modular design key to long-term success
Image wikipedia.org

5. Information awareness Too much data will always
6. Context sensitivity plague digital collaboration

People, processes and
7. Evolutionary semantics architecture change over time

Highly connected data will
The Project Information Cloud increase the overall knowledge
of the project team

Conclusions
We lack a vocabulary for digital
architectural collaboration
This vocabulary needs to be evolutionary
not revolutionary
BIM is a productive tool, but it does not
address collaboration issues
The seven principles proposed will help
establish the Project Information Cloud