A Design Gallery System: Prototype and Evaluation

Designers work by creating alternatives. Current design media restrict this practice through their near-universal adherence to a single-state document model. We describe the implementation of an online gallery system built as part of a research program to understand new media types for working with design alternatives in parametric modeling. The online gallery supports multiple commercially available parametric modelers. A user study shows a significant difference between two modes of gallery operation and a qualitative study describes user patterns in using the online gallery system.