Design as communicative activity: implications for sustainability assessment software

Journal article, 2026

Interviews with architectural practitioners are commonly used to analyse design activities and adapt building sustainability assessment software for early design. However, previous interview studies only identify design activities, and not how they gain importance in the specific context, which is crucial for adapting software capabilities to practical needs. This study draws on practice theory using the ‘interview to the double’ approach, exploring how practitioners justify design activities related to the sustainability assessment of a design proposal. Architectural practitioners (n = 9) in European countries were interviewed under the assumption that the interviewer was a body double needing instructions to perform the participant’s tasks the next workday. A total of 28 design activities were identified, of which 17 were previously undocumented, including (1) informative activities, e.g. interpreting regulations; (2) generative activities, e.g. preparing presentation material; (3) analytical activities, e.g. environmental assessment; and (4) communicative activities, e.g. internal and external design reviews. Architectural practitioners describe their design activities through both the specific steps involved and their communicative purpose. Software developers could use this method to document building sustainability assessment activities in early design stages.