REVIEW PAPER A Framework on Causes and Effects of Design Iterations Purva Mujumdar 1 • Vasant Matsagar 1 Received: 3 February 2014 / Accepted: 2 May 2017 Ó The Institution of Engineers (India) 2017 Abstract Design is an evolutionary process that involves several teams collaborating with each other to achieve the final design solution. Due to an intrinsic association of teams participating during design stages, frequent exchanges of information take place among them to exe- cute various design activities. These information exchanges occur in cycles/loops where the design is improved/refined at each information exchange. This process is referred as design iteration. Iteration is one of the most complex and unavoidable phenomenon of a design process and they last until the specifications and design requirements are met. Hence, design teams need to acquire a thorough under- standing of the factors that cause iterations. As the causes of iterations have not been identified in a classified manner, a causes and effects framework of design iteration is pre- sented in this paper. The methodology adopted to develop this framework was detailed literature review and interac- tions done with industry experts. This framework guides project planners to identify the possible causes of iterations and enables them to plan their design projects efficiently. Keywords Design iteration Á Information flow Á Causes and effects of iteration Á Design activity/task Introduction In construction design projects, the success of a design process is defined as ‘finishing of a project achieving the desired quality within stipulated time and budget assigned’. To achieve this, an effective planning and execution of design activities as well as systematic management of design teams are of paramount concern to project planners. As the design phase of a project involves designers from varied design disciplines working on numerous activities, a continuous exchange of information among designers as well as among design activities takes place. This constant sharing of information occurs in cycles/loops where the design is improved/refined at each information exchange. This process can be termed as design iteration [1]. Iteration is inherent of any design process and provides a platform for design progression until the design criteria and requirements are met. Therefore, iterations need to be specifically planned in a design process. To achieve this, it is imperative to explore why iteration occurs. Hence, a causes and effects diagram, based on ‘fishbone’ diagram [2], is presented as a framework in Fig. 1 to discover why iterations occur in a design process. The proposed frame- work is generic in nature and it can be applied to any construction project with minor refinements. Causes and Effects Framework of Design Iterations As stated above, planning of iterations is crucial for suc- cessful completion of a design process. However, despite projecting various complexities in design, the causes of iterations are not identified in a classified manner that makes the whole phenomenon difficult to understand. & Purva Mujumdar cez128542@iitd.ac.in; purvamujumdar@gmail.com 1 Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India 123 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. A DOI 10.1007/s40030-017-0193-3