Task characteristics, coordination modes and design coordination performance, an information processing perspective

Building design is an information intensive activity, in which information exchange between multi-disciplinary professionals is the key to success. Applying the information processing perspective, a project coalition can be interpreted as an information processing system that facilitates information gathering, processing and distribution. Dynamic in nature, building design projects involve a great deal of uncertainty and equivocality and thus have high information processing requirement. Information processing capacity, in terms of coordination mode, is the key to meeting the information processing requirement. A model is proposed in which information processing theory is used to explaining design coordination. Uncertainty and equivocality originated from design coordination task characteristics in terms of task variety and task analysability requires participants in design coalition to frequently process information to reduce uncertainty and equivocality. Coordination modes enable information process to reduce uncertainty and equivocality by certain information amount and information richness. The model serves three aims: the fit between task characteristics and coordination modes, whether the fit is a predictor for coordination performance, and to which extent a better coordination performance lead to better project performance will be tested under the model. In practice aspect, research results will be helpful in guiding the establishing coordination mechanism in building design project coalition.