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In Due Time: Decision-Making in Architectural Design of Hospitals

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COOP 2016: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems, 23-27 May 2016, Trento, Italy

Abstract

We analyze the cooperative work involved in creating the architectural design of a hospital based upon digital technologies of the future, before we know whether future digital technologies will be mature and reliable enough for use. The entire process, from initial architectural design until opening of the hospital for patients, takes approximately 10 years, which is a significant amount of time considering the hitherto pace of digital technology development. Therefore, due time decision-making is essential. We conceptualize due time in cooperative design work as a quality measurement of whether “the right path” is followed when alternative future paths are available, without reducing the space for design maneuverability prematurely. But how do we determine the “right path” in due time? By exploring the ways in which artefacts are used to achieve due time decision-making on future digital technologies in hospital design, we find that artefacts are used to assess the relationship between dependencies and sequences of activities with the aim of pushing all irreversible decisions for design as far as possible. Thus, we argue that the practices of handling due time decision-making in complex cooperative activities are characterized as the practices of handling the relationships between dependencies, sequentiality, and irreversibility of the material matter (in our case the future hospital) shaping the course of action.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank colleagues that provided comments during the process of writing this paper, and in particular we would like to thank Jørgen Bansler, Kjeld Schmidt, Marisa Cohn, Mary Amasia, and Geraldine Fitzpatrick. Also, we would like to direct a special thanks to Susanne Dam Hoffmann, Head of Health Service Planning, who initiated discussions on how critical decisions are made based on her expertise and long experience with hospital design. Susanne was instrumental in pushing discussions, particularly in the initial part of the study. We would also like to direct a special thanks to the architecture firm. This work was in part funded by the Velux Foundations and is part of the Computational Artifact research project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Naja L. Holten Møller & Pernille Bjørn

Authors
  1. Naja L. Holten Møller
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  2. Pernille Bjørn
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Correspondence to Naja L. Holten Møller .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. InterAction Laboratory Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Antonella De Angeli

  2. LERO Department of Computer Science & Information Systems, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Liam Bannon

  3. Department of Communication Science, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Patrizia Marti

  4. Department of Information Engineering and Computer Science, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Silvia Bordin

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Møller, N.L.H., Bjørn, P. (2016). In Due Time: Decision-Making in Architectural Design of Hospitals. In: De Angeli, A., Bannon, L., Marti, P., Bordin, S. (eds) COOP 2016: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems, 23-27 May 2016, Trento, Italy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33464-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33464-6_12

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33463-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-33464-6

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