Leveraging network analysis to improve navigability of design standards

Abstract

The utility of building design standards is a growing concern amongst construction professionals. Design standards continue to swell with updates, which makes ensuring all requirements are satisfied increasingly complex for users. Few tools exist for authors of standards to improve navigation for users. This study investigates the use of network analysis to understand the relationship between the organization of a standard and navigational complexity. A case study is presented of the reorganization of American Concrete Institute’s (ACI) flagship design document, ACI 318. The standard’s networks before (ACI 318-11) and after (ACI 318-14) the reorganization are developed via rule-based text extraction. Networks are analyzed assuming that ACI 318-14 is the structurally superior document. Indicators of complexity are identified from each networks' characteristic features, centrality metrics, clustering tendencies, recurring motifs, and geodesic paths. Network analysis is found to be useful for identifying, understanding, and mitigating navigational complexity within a building design standard.