Gamified Informed Decision-Making for Performance-Aware Design by Non-Experts: An Exoskeleton Design Case Study

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Khameneh, Arman Khalilbeigi, Mostafavi, Armin, Vazquez, Alicia Nahmad
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Khameneh, Arman Khalilbeigi
Mostafavi, Armin
Vazquez, Alicia Nahmad
author_facet Khameneh, Arman Khalilbeigi
Mostafavi, Armin
Vazquez, Alicia Nahmad
contents Decision Support Systems (DSS) play a crucial role in enabling non-expert designers to explore complex, performance-driven design spaces. This paper presents a gamified decision-making framework that integrates game engines with real-time performance feedback. Performance criteria include structural behavior, environmental parameters, fabrication, material, and cost considerations. The developed design framework was tested with architecture students and non-expert designers on the design of an exoskeleton facade to retrofit an existing building. Participants (N=24) were able to iteratively modify façade geometries while receiving real-time feedback across the three key criteria: 1) structural behavior, including deflection, mass, and stress/strength ratio; 2) environmental parameters, such as solar gain and heating/cooling energy demands; and 3) fabrication considerations, including fabrication and material costs, robotic machining, and material setup. The evaluation of participant interactions reveals that gamified feedback mechanisms significantly enhance user comprehension and informed decision-making across the criteria. Further, participants' understanding of structural, material, and fabrication performance in relation to the iterative design task suggests that curated design spaces and structured guidance improve efficiency compared to open-ended generative tools. This research contributes to pre-occupancy evaluations, demonstrating how gamified environments enable stakeholder participation in the design process through informed decisionmaking and customized negotiation of performance criteria. .
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_04643
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gamified Informed Decision-Making for Performance-Aware Design by Non-Experts: An Exoskeleton Design Case Study
Khameneh, Arman Khalilbeigi
Mostafavi, Armin
Vazquez, Alicia Nahmad
Human-Computer Interaction
Decision Support Systems (DSS) play a crucial role in enabling non-expert designers to explore complex, performance-driven design spaces. This paper presents a gamified decision-making framework that integrates game engines with real-time performance feedback. Performance criteria include structural behavior, environmental parameters, fabrication, material, and cost considerations. The developed design framework was tested with architecture students and non-expert designers on the design of an exoskeleton facade to retrofit an existing building. Participants (N=24) were able to iteratively modify façade geometries while receiving real-time feedback across the three key criteria: 1) structural behavior, including deflection, mass, and stress/strength ratio; 2) environmental parameters, such as solar gain and heating/cooling energy demands; and 3) fabrication considerations, including fabrication and material costs, robotic machining, and material setup. The evaluation of participant interactions reveals that gamified feedback mechanisms significantly enhance user comprehension and informed decision-making across the criteria. Further, participants' understanding of structural, material, and fabrication performance in relation to the iterative design task suggests that curated design spaces and structured guidance improve efficiency compared to open-ended generative tools. This research contributes to pre-occupancy evaluations, demonstrating how gamified environments enable stakeholder participation in the design process through informed decisionmaking and customized negotiation of performance criteria. .
title Gamified Informed Decision-Making for Performance-Aware Design by Non-Experts: An Exoskeleton Design Case Study
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.04643