Inside the Factory

2011 Revit Products Unveiled

so the cat is out of the bag and those who have not been participating in beta can join in and see what is coming.  Here are some of the highlights:

Autodesk Revit Architecture 2011:

• Large team workflow
• Enhanced visualization
• Enhanced documentation

Autodesk Revit Structure 2011:

• Framing enhancements (slanted columns, beam systems, trusses and connection symbols)
• Reinforcement and concrete cleanup enhancements
• Analytical model enhancements

Autodesk Revit MEP 2011:

• Cable tray and conduit modeling
• Panel schedules and demand factors
• MEP fixture management
• Oval duct

Other platform changes include conceptual modeling improvements, UI , visualization, performance and the API.

There is a lot in this release.  I and others will post more in the weeks to come but David Light is setting the bar in his coverage.  For me I am very excited for as the "...room somewhere in the factory which is full, from floor to ceiling with user feature requests..." ,as David refers to it, well.... I can open the door to the room now and not get maimed by a request avalanche!

These requested enhancements range from dialog re-sizing, to better defaults when making new parameters, to an editable elevation tag and other fixes to reported issues.

-Erik

"Conceptual" "Analysis"

A lot of terms get thrown around the Factory. Very broad terms with multiple definitions and meanings have a tendency to take on a single (or even new) meaning within the context of an industry or discipline. For example:

"Conceptual design." What is the first image that this phrase brings to mind? For me, recently, it has all been about form making and massing. While critically important to even the simplest of architectural project, defining massing (and conversely: space) is really only part of the story. When talking to customers and examining data in the past few months, programming keeps coming up as another critical, if less "sexy" part of conceptual design.

Second is "analysis." With the extreme buzz around sustainability, the term "analysis" tends to imply performance accreditation (ala LEED) and energy analysis. Once again, these are extremely important scenarios - but does it paint the entire picture? What are some of the other frequent analysis tasks for architects and engineers that have nothing to do with sustainability? (Obviously I know some, but I ask naively to get it in your words ;-)

Making Design Patterns Work in Practice

I just posted on our corporate design blog about  <shameless plug> Making Design Patterns Work in Practice. </shameless plug>  We don't normally like to re-post, but I thought it was relevant to demonstrate some of the thinking that goes into our design practices inside the Factory and how it dovetails somewhat with architectural design. This is also closely related to Erik's recent post on consistency. Please note, we realize that we have a ways to go before we follow our own interaction design patterns fully - but this illustrates the direction we are headed.

_tom

is Revit your Type?

In this post I want to raise a subject that might be popular.  Here are two facts:

We are visual people

I hear this a lot in interviews.  "I see it and want to manipulate it".  and "Don't make me reverse engineer the technical implementation"  or "I just want to grab X not work in a spreadsheet."  This is very logical.  Some changes are better made in dialogs or properties but a lot of the time, especially when designing you just want to interact with the model.

The Object Model is powerful

With a change of a type parameter you can make a few changes in quick fashion and know everything will propagate and be coordinated.  This is Revit. Happy Joy Joy.

Now onto the intersection of these two themes.

1. When teaching I, and other instructions, often preach to duplicate types when making a change to a type property.  It may be the layer structure of a wall or pattern spacing in curtain wall.  The reason is to avoid inadvertently redefining elements that are already instantiated in the model.  Its relatively simple to later swap out the type of a few instances in a view or all type instances using the selection tools (This was made better in the 3 subscription release)  Making a new type however is not the natural thing to do.  Most Revit users don't think "I want to change X so I better duplicate the type".  They feel they are acting on one object - not many.
2. Many type changes are difficult or impossible to preview.  This could be addressed in the type dialog but there may be context in the model that is important to the preview so its often more desirable to make the type change right in the model.

The above might explain why some ask for modeless properties for both type and instance while others want type changes to be treated uniquely to prevent accidental changes by new Revit users.

Can this workflow be improved to fit better with needs and mental models?

Potential Designs

1. Provide a lightweight mode where type changes can be made and previewed in the model on a local condition after which an explicit decision is made to forget the edits, save them as a new type or redefine the existing type.  The amount of elements that would be affected by each choice could be communicated by the system to help inform the choice.
2. Allow changes in context but save them to an <in-session> type that needs to be re-named and swapped out with an existing type to propagate a change.  Print settings work like this.
3. Allow direct edits but ask what should be done when another element is acted upon and the current element completed.   Editing a walkthrough path partially works like this and the dialog that prompts when deselecting the walkthrough can be a bit annoying.

Each of these has pros and cons.  This is just a thought experiment but I'm very interested in opinions, additional cases, or alternatives.  I see it come up again and again.

_erik

Walking around the Factory: Design exercise

Organizing and grouping data from recent user research. Printable stickies are our friends!

The death of boxed software

It is with great pleasure that I am able to help herald a new era in software delivery: Starting this month, software download will replace CDs and DVDs as the default method of delivering software upgrades to most Autodesk Subscription customers worldwide. As a former CAD manager and game-playing kid from the 80's, I can say that the death of boxed software could not have come sooner. Here is the official line:

If a customer would prefer to receive their software upgrade via CD/DVD instead of via download, customers can set their delivery preference to “box” by signing in to Subscription Center and updating their profile prior to March 12, 2010. (Date does not apply to Media and Entertainment customers.) After March 12, 2010 customers in countries affected by this policy change can still request a CD/DVD by submitting a request in Subscription Center and Autodesk will ship a CD/DVD at no additional cost. Software download gives Subscription customers immediate access to the latest Autodesk® software. It’s more convenient than installing upgrades from a CD or DVD. And, it’s a more sustainable choice. Autodesk will continue to ship CDs/DVDs to Subscription customers in some countries as the default delivery method. However, these customers will also have the option to download their Autodesk® software upgrades.

Additional information and a Customer FAQ can be found on the Subscription Software Download page. Or email subscription-team@autodesk.com.

What we're reading

Visualize your Revit project with the Unity3D game engine  - with dynamic updates. Cool.

Straight out of my adolescent day dreams: Bastards doing architecture. Just look at that cross section.

An excellent summary on empowering users to create their own software

And, while on the topic, Zach get's his robotic butt kicked by his kid

Bluestreak? that was so 2009 :) CASE launches WHObyYOU.