Introduction

The main purpose of IDEA+ is storing design decisions in a structured way.

A second goal is providing feedback during the design through evaluation tests. These tests are often postponed until the design is finalized. By performing them during the design process, appropriate feedback is given and the design can be improved as early as possible.

Finally, IDEA+ is meant to be a development platform, to be expandable with additional tests or functions.

The research on IDEA+ consists of both a data structure and a prototype application. The custom data structure describes a building project through the eyes of the architect. The development is done in-house and is not meant to produce a commercial-class application, but rather an illustration of concepts that we find important in design activities, which seem lacking or limited in current (commercial) CAD-applications or research projects.