Informed Design Knowledge Center
Share and learn how-to tips, workflows, and general knowledge articles about Informed Design and the future of the Industrialized Construction industry.

2024 & Beyond: Informed Design Roadmap

Contributed by:

Banner_2024+Roadmap.png

We are thrilled to unveil the latest long-term product roadmap for Autodesk Informed Design. Informed Design is a cloud-based solution that unlocks industrialized construction for building design professionals and manufacturers, helping to connect workflows and deliver projects quicker, with higher quality and less waste.

 

Since our public launch in February 2024, the product team has been evaluating and considering our customers' feedback, evolving needs, industry trends, and our vision for the future of industrialized construction. In this blog, we'll explore new features, significant updates, and the progressive strides we are making to enhance your building design and construction processes with customizable, predefined building components for accurate construction outcomes.

 

Whether you're a seasoned user of Informed Design or just discovering the world of Autodesk, we hope this roadmap will spark your imagination about the potential that lies ahead. We believe that the best way to predict the future is to invent it – and with Informed Design, we're doing just that.

 

Continue reading to uncover the details behind what the product development team is tackling now, next and later for Informed Design.

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Roadmaps are plans, not promises. We’re as excited as you to see new functionality make it into the products, but the development, releases, and timing of any features or functionality remain at our sole discretion. The projects mentioned in this roadmap are highlights and do not account for ongoing efforts like bug fixes, platform, and service maintenance. These roadmap updates should not be used to make purchasing decisions. All imagery in this post are representational design prototypes, subject to changes and are not representations of functional software. 

 

 

Improved Publishing in Inventor

 

DONE : Release Notes for Products & Releases

With release notes, building product suppliers will have the option to supplement their published products with additional details for designers and other project collaborators. When publishing a new product or a new release of an existing product, product engineers will be able to use the Release notes field to describe the release for those who will will utilize it in Revit. Release notes will contain up to 500 characters, including support for URLs for those who wish to link to their company's online resources. These release notes will be visible in the Revit add-in during browsing, and when configuring or selecting product variants to insert or replace.

 

Note: Project Administrator permission will be required to access the Releases tab.

 

 

Codeblocks

We think Codeblocks 'Rule'! (pun intended) because they provide the easiest method yet to express the kind of logic and formulas one needs, to define the Inputs Interface (Form) for a configurable building Product. In this no-code interface, Product Engineers can define the limits, options and logic needed to guide Architects in Revit and confirm achievable customization choices.

 

LATER : New Specialized Blocks

Our first release of Codeblocks for Informed Design includes only what we deemed absolutely essential for productization workflows. Going forward, we intend to provide many additional specialized blocks for making it even easier to build out Product Rules and to define the user interaction for your Published Product's Input Form in Revit.

 

 

Form Layout with Codeblocks

The Input Form for a Published Product is a marquee feature for the Revit user that guides them as they define and generate product variants that suit their specific design needs while conforming to a known manufacturable result as defined by the Product Publisher. 

 

DONE : Form Layout Codeblocks Workspace

With the first phase of Form Layout improvements, we’ve created a new codeblocks workspace dedicated entirely to form layout and orchestration. Many more form-specific codeblocks will be added to the Form Layout workspace toolbox as we expand options for form appearance customization in the future, but today we are starting with just two new blocks: the Control block and the Group block. Control blocks are used to include and reorder adopted parameters in the customization form, and redefine default labels if needed. Group blocks are accordions that can be used to nest related parameters into an expandable / collapsible named group. These separate workspaces for form appearance vs. behavioral logic will hopefully make it easier for product engineers to test and manage their codeblocks. 

 

Form Layout Codeblocks WorkspaceForm Layout Codeblocks Workspace

 

 

DONE : Improved Form Layout

We are also prioritizing a more robust solution for Form Layout that will support organizing many parameters in groups and tabs.

 

LATER

Adding notes and labels and even images to an Input Form are also things we realize will be necessary to define an optimal experience for Products to be configured directly within Revit. To create such an Input Form would normally require custom programming, but using Codeblocks, all you will need to do is drag and drop Codeblocks into a structure that defines what you want and we will generate the corresponding Input Form automatically with zero coding required!

 

FEEDBACK REQUESTED! We would love to hear the particular ways you're interested in customizing your forms. Share your thoughts on the Informed Design IdeaStation or Forum.

 

 

Adopt iProperties & Output Parameters

The first release of Informed Design limits users to adopt Parameters only. We have had numerous customers ask us already if we can support the adoption of Inventor iProperties as we do Parameters for inclusion in the Product Rules as well as in the Input Form.

 

LATER : Beyond Parameters

It is our intention to support iProperty as well as what we call 'Output' Parameter adoption, which will round out our Input Form layout solution and allow Product Publishers to optimize the user experience for those utilizing their Published products in Revit. For example, there are certain parameters in the Inventor Model that are driven by formulas or rules that you may want to include in your Input Form as read-only to reflect values calculated by Inventor and updated in the Input Form after a configuration has been generated. We call these 'Output Parameters' because their values are driven and output from Inventor rather than being calculated by Codeblock Rules in the Product Definition. A good example of this is when you may want to get the mass of the Product Variant (which Inventor can calculate) and show that as a read-only output parameter on the Input Form.  

 

 

More Output Types

Inventor can export model data to a long list of formats such as Step, SAT and DWG, to name just a few. The first release of Informed Design includes options to output native 3D Inventor models, drawings formats, bill of materials, .sat files, .step files and .glb files

 

LATER : Extend Available Output Types

We intend to extend the list of output type options available based on customer request. We already have plans to add an option to output DWG files as well as what we call user defined output types. A user defined output type would be any file included in the published dataset that a user selects as an output. We have learned that it is not uncommon for users to generate or update additional data files (i.e. spreadsheets, text files, etc) using iLogic rules when generating various model configurations. Adding user defined output types will allow users to extract data from Product Configurations (Variants) as needed for their downstream manufacturing processes.  You will also be able to leverage user defined outputs to generate currently available output formats with custom translation options using iLogic if the default option settings are not in line with your output requirements.  This iLogic driven output generation method can also be used to generated any of the export file types supported on Design Automation (Inventor running on Autodesk Platform Services Cloud) that are not yet exposed as options directly in Informed design web app interface.

 

FEEDBACK REQUESTED! We would love to hear from you about which additional output types you would like us to support going forward and which ones are most important to you. Share your thoughts on the Informed Design IdeaStation or Forum.

 

 

Improve Published Product Accessibility via ACC Bridge and Content Catalog

 

DONE : Optimize Access to Content from Known Collaborators

Building projects can involve stakeholders and collaborators that span multiple different ACC Accounts, Projects and Folders. In order to better connect the variety of members of these kinds of projects, we are working on integrating Informed Design with ACC Bridge such that products published to shared folders (via the Bridge Share option) will be accessible to anyone having access to the Account Project and Folder included in the share.

 

Optimize Access to Content from Known CollaboratorsOptimize Access to Content from Known Collaborators

 

 

LATER : Optimize Access to Content from Potential Collaborators

Building Product Manufacturers (BPMs) have shared with us the challenges they face in relation to providing current Product Specifications, up-to-date models and most importantly, how to get "spec'd in" to projects in the early stages of design. We believe that integrating Informed Design with ACC Content Catalog will be a great way for BPMs to provide up-to-date, known manufacturable, and easy to access configurable product models to their prospective customers. Convenient access to such product models increases the likelihood they will get spec'd in early in the design process as it provides Architects with certainty that what they define can be delivered by the BPM.

 

 

Extend and Improve WebApp Experience and Functionality

 

Generate New Variants on Web

It takes time to generate new variants, and depending on the size and complexity of a Published Product model it can even take several minutes. Waiting several minutes to be able to insert a product variant in Revit while it is being generated for the first time does not align well with the current expectations users have in relation to performance.

 

NOW : Pre-generate Variants

One of the ways we can optimize the experience in Informed Design with respect to performance, is by allowing users to pre-generate Product Variants directly in the Informed Design WebApp, with no need to do so directly in Revit. This approach will make it possible for Product Engineers to pre-load the list (or store) of available product variants so that Revit users find 'ready to insert' product variants and thereby reduce how often they need to generate new variants themselves in the Revit context. Pre-generation of variants will also enable Product Publishers to promote the use of their most commonly configured or standard Product Configurations. 

 

 

Create Outputs on Web

NEXT : WebApp Output Generation

What if you want to configure a desired Product Variant and generate outputs for manufacturing completely outside of Revit? We will work towards providing the option to generate and preview Product Variants entirely in our web app where you can then generate any outputs types needed and send those outputs to a specified destination - be that a download, Autodesk Docs, or even to a Fusion Team Project.

 

 

Product Release Management Improvements

Our first release of Informed Design introduced the notion of Product Release Management via the Informed Design Web App. Currently you can set a Release status to Default, Active or Obsolete.

 

DONE : Release Notes for Products and Releases

With release notes, building product suppliers can supplement their published products with additional details and web links for designers and other project collaborators. Release notes can be defined in the Inventor add-in at publish time, or from the web app's Releases tab as part of product administration activities. These release notes will be visible in the Revit add-in during browsing, and when configuring or selecting product variants to insert or replace. 

 

Release Notes for Products and ReleasesRelease Notes for Products and Releases

 

 

LATER : More Release Statuses

We will enhance our Release Management utilities to include additional status types to better reflect the lifecycle of a real world building product. 

 

FEEDBACK REQUESTED! We are currently listening for customer feedback regarding this so please tell us on the Informed Design IdeaStation or Forum which release statuses you would like to see added, and how they would impact product usage by designers in Revit. 

 

 

Request for Outputs History

The ability to automatically generate outputs for manufacturing of the various product variants included in a Revit project is a workflow of primary value for those using the Informed Design web app. We recognize that it is important for users to be able to trace and track which outputs have already been generated, when they were generated, and the upload location (Account, Project, Folder) where they were routed.

 

NOW : Outputs History

To solve for this, we will introduce an 'Outputs History' view in the Informed Design web app where detailed information for every request for outputs (RFO) you have made can be searched, sorted and filtered. This will make it very convenient to find the specific RFO data you need quickly, or to export this data for use in related Project Management process workflows.

 

Outputs History RFOs level & FiltersOutputs History RFOs level & Filters

 

 

Product Usage Insights

Informed Design workflows make it possible for Architects to design with digital Building Product assets provided by the manufacturer. In the process, the related data is being generated and captured by the Informed Design Service that can be used to provide valuable insights back to the Product Publishers, Architects and Production Engineers involved in these workflows.

 

LATER : Personalized Insights

As adoption and usage of Informed Design grows, we will reach the point where the data we have collected should be sufficient to deliver meaningful insights back to our users. When we do, we will begin to surface a variety of charts and graphs in an Insights dashboard in the Informed Design web app, so you can begin to benefit from the personalized insights.

  • For example:
    • A Product Publisher would be provided with insights to determine whether the Product they published is being used, including when and how often it is being used and how many different variants are being generated.
    • An Architect may want to know the breakdown of BPM supplied components a project consists of, and how many different suppliers are involved.

FEEDBACK REQUESTED! As we build our plan for delivering these kinds of insights to our users, we would love to hear from you to learn what insights and data you'd like available to you. Let us know on the Informed Design IdeaStation or Forum what insights you'd like access to.

 

 

Revit Workflows

Better Loadable Revit Family Results

Very early on, when Informed Design was still only being imagined, we identified the need to provide a solution that would produce the best possible Revit Family. Our team commonly refers to it as a "Well Formed Revit Family". The first release of Informed Design utilizes Inventor's current BIM exchange API's to generate Revit Families for Product Variant Instances in Revit.

 

DONE : BIM Exchange Utility for Inventor

This new utility will enable us to generate a truly "Well Formed Revit Family" that meets all of our established criteria:

  1. The Default Insertion Point is consistent with how the component is most likely to be placed most of the time. 
  2. The Default orientation aligns with the most likely way in which it will normally be oriented in the building model. 
  3. The appropriate Category (Revit) is assigned so that upon insert the component lands in that Category in the Revit Project Browser. 
  4. It has the appropriate Behavior (Generic, Face Based, Wall based etc) defined so that it can be incorporated into the building model in accordance with the assigned behavior definition. 
  5. Any required MEP connectors are included. 
  6. Family and Type properties for the assigned category are included that have values assigned that reflect the configuration (type) being represented.
  7. Any custom type parameters desired for inclusion by the Product Manufacturer (defined in Inventor) are also included. 
  8. The geometric elements included provide a Level of Detail appropriate for the BIM model. (typically, significantly simplified as compared to the full level of detail Manufacturing model) 

    LATER
  9. The Family has structured elements, be it sub-category elements for controlling visibility settings in Revit views or even a nested Family structure (this will come later) when required to represent distinct components within a single Building Product Component. 
  10. The Families' parameters include your company's Shared Parameter definitions. 
  11. The parameters and properties of the Family are Read-Only when they have been constrained by the manufacturers Product Definition rules.

 

Updating Product Release Instances

Improving the workflows and user experience and optimizing our integration with Revit is high on the list of the Informed Design team's priorities. 

 

DONE : Improved Replace Workflow

Currently, it can take considerable time to Replace a product variant instance with one that needs to be newly generated vs. available in the store. To address this, we will introduce the option to Replace by selecting an existing variant directly from the store, and when you do need a newly generated variant, you will be able to do so without being blocked from performing other actions in Revit while you wait for that new variant to be generated before it can be applied as a replacement. This approach for the Replace command will be better aligned with how the Insert command works where the notion of generating new variants is non-blocking and separate from the notion of selecting from existing. Our goal is to never slow you down with blocking operations that take more than a few second to execute, like new variant generation.

 

Improved Replace WorkflowImproved Replace Workflow

 

Comments

What about the Revit library management tool UNIFI? When will this be released? Thanks