User Researcher
Fall 2022
User Research
User Interviews, Figma, Adobe Photoshop
Introduction
Working with Hayward Lumber, a family-owned Bay Area lumberyard and construction material supplier, the team and I researched how Hayward can help address the needs of architects in the construction process. There was no definitive problem; our role was to use needfinding to discover what needs architects have that Hayward Lumber can help with. From our research, we proposed two solutions for Hayward to implement.
Interviews
We had the privilege of meeting 12 architects from 5 different firms and the Stanford architectural department. These architects include those who helped design Apple Campus and the d.school, residential architects, commercial architects, plus the Director of the Stanford Architecture Program. From these interviews, we aimed to understand the architects’ POV of the construction and design process.
Most architecture projects follow the 7-step Architecture Design Process, which starts with creating the designs for a build and ends with the final constructed building. We examined an architects time distribution among the 7 steps and found that the most time consuming step is Construction Administration, which is when the project is physically being built.
Architects are most involved in Steps 1 through 6. However, Step 7, Construction Administration, takes the longest to complete.
The people who are most involved in the Construction Administration step are the construction contractor and subcontractors (e.g. glass installers, roofers, floor installers). Architects typically don't directly interact with the subcontractors–the one's who actually build the project.
We examined our interviews between the lines to dig deeper into what the architects are actually saying. One interviewee, Matt, an ex-architect, spent most of his time telling us about his perception of contractor. He said:
“For the past 10 years, I’ve been trying to forget that I was ever an architect… the relationship with the contractor is always tense.” – Matt, ex-architect
Findings
Finding 1
Finding 2
“It’s like babies, we give birth to this thing. [Handing off the project] is like throwing our baby to the wolves.”
— Hiromi Ogawa, founder and Principal at Ogawa Fisher Architects
“I can’t have a rational relationship with someone that decides that my mistakes are a basis for their profit.”
— John Barton, Director of the Stanford Architecture Program
Insights
The tension between architects and contractors can be attributed to two reasons:
Architects don’t fully trust contractors to effectively execute the project.
Architects blame contractors for their least favorite part of the job.
The relationship between architects and contractors can be compared to that of parents and babysitters to demonstrate the lack of trust.
To architects, a.k.a the parents, the project is their child and they receive help from their “family members.” These family members are the structural engineers, interior designers, and other consultants who work with the architects during the initial design phases.
However, architects view contractors like babysitters because there isn’t complete trust between the two. Contractors are “outside of the family.” Because the contractors are “not in the family,” there is a lack of trust even though the contractors have a lot of influence on the child. Architects must bring contractors into the family, creating trust between the two and allowing both contractors and architects to raise “the child” together.
Needs
From there, we identified the architect’s top four needs:
Need to spend time doing what they love
Need to feel confident about + ownership over their designs
Need to choose products that sub-contractors already use
Need to compare sub-contractors’ substitutions to specifications efficiently
These needs are all in service of reducing the tension between architects and contractors. If Hayward can be the source of alleviating this tension, both architects and sub-contractors will turn to Hayward’s products.
Design Principles
We identified 3 design principles that are necessary to design an effective solution for architects. These principles are not the solution, but what the solution should satisfy.
Create substitution recommendations to help architects replace an unavailable material that subcontractors want to catalyze and streamline the material-choosing process.
Map similar materials to one another to help architects choose something that fits their overarching design to help maintain the architect’s feeling of ownership over their design.
Catalog the most popular Hayward materials and products used by subcontractors to help prevent frustrating design substitutions later in the process.
These design principles will help reduce the tension between Architects and contractors, which will, in turn, lead to a more efficient construction administration process.
Solution
Hayward Catalog
The catalog will help architects know what products and materials subcontractors buy, which reduces the likelihood of having to go through the substitution process. This preventative solution will be implemented in the beginning of the design process when architects are making design specifications.
Result
Hayward Lumber implemented our solution and launched their online Design Center for Architects, which includes a product selection and buying guide that is similar to our digital Hayward Catalog.