SEDAR: Expert Critiquing System for Flat and Low-Slope Roof Design and Review

Abstract

The Support Environment for Design And Review (SEDAR) is a flexible, graphical expert critiquing system for use by both designers and reviewers during the design of flat and low-slope structure roof systems. SEDAR provides assistance during the design and review phases of the design process through the use of its error prevention, error detection, and design review critics, and a design suggestion critic. The primary contribution of SEDAR to the field of expert critiquing systems is a method for focusing its critiques through the use of a task model of the design domain. The task model, called the Designer's Task Model (DTM), was created from observing how roof designers decompose the roof-design task into interdependent subtasks associated with the layout of roof subsystems. SEDAR uses DTM to flexibly track the progress of roof designers so that its critics can provide the most relevant advice at appropriate times in the design process. Evaluation of a SEDAR prototype demonstrated that the system reduces the number of errors for roof designers and outlined directions for future research.