The User Pre-Occupancy Evaluation Method in designer–client communication in early design stage: A case study

The interaction between designers and clients is continuous during the briefing and architectural design stage. The efficiency of the interaction process may be decreased due to the limited experience of clients, such as the limited capacity in understanding drawings or reviewing design solutions. A User Pre-Occupancy Evaluation Method (UPOEM) was developed to enhance the designer–client communication by applying building information modeling, user activity simulation, and requirement management techniques. A case study is used to apply the UPOEM to verify the practical implementation in a real project and from which a comparative experimental study and questionnaire survey were conducted. The findings indicate that the UPOEM can help generate more suggestions for improving design solution during designer–client communication compared with traditional approach. It can also enhance the clients' understanding of the future built environment as well as their willingness in collaborative working with designers at the early design stage.

► We develop a User Pre-Occupancy Evaluation Method (UPOEM).
► We apply the UPOEM to verify the practical implementation.
► UPOEM can generate more suggestions for design in designer–client communication.
► UPOEM can enhance the clients' understanding of the future built environment.