d e p a r t m e n t   o f   a r c h i t e c t u r e ,   u n i v e r s i t y   o f   o r e g o n

Arch 410/510 - Cheng, Spring 1997

Criteria for selecting a CAD system

Surveying available digital design tools in 1985, Mark Van Norman of Harvard GSD used the following criteria:

- Time Required to Learn
- Representation and Data Structures

Program Structure
Relationship of Program and OS
Structure across Applications (consistency)

- Input, Editing and Output

Screen Layout, Prompting, Data Entry
Response to and Recovery from User Errors
Uniformity of User Interface and Program

- Documentation & Online learning tools

Now that 12 years have passed, what additional criteria are important?

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