User Driven Innovation in the Building Process

During the late years there has been an ever-increasing focus on the possibilities to change the building process to raise quality on the final building products as well as the activities of actors involved in the building process. One reason for this interest is the new opportunities evolving due to introduction of advanced information and communication technology (ICT). The paper focuses on creative changes of the building process powered by user driven innovation activities. An overview of existing user driven innovation methodologies is given as well experiences from the ongoing Virtual Innovation in Construction (VIC) project. One important driving force for change is the opportunity for users to develop and articulate real needs concerning for example different functionalities of a building and its parts, but also on artifacts supporting the actual needs capture and requirements formulation during building design. A general methodological framework and meta ontology for Virtual Innovation in Construction is presented as well as findings from implementation of the method.