Avoiding BIM Adoption Fatigue

October 15, 2021 0 Comments

New discoveries in the field of neuroscience are helping us understand how the brain makes decisions. In a study that reveals fascinating insights, Professor Lars Muckli, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Glasgow, studies how the brain processes vision. He has found evidence that the human brain is more of a prediction machine than a computer. We make decisions based on those predictions. Our brain stores the experience and uses it to build a better predictive model as we make those decisions. Professor Muckli says, “The main purpose of the brain, as we understand it today…is basically a prediction machine that is optimizing its own predictions of the environment it is navigating through.”

We rely on our personal experiences more than data to make decisions. When we encounter something new, we try to predict what will happen based on similar past experiences. People who have experienced more success, or predicted correctly, can be more likely to take chances in the future. Our ability to take chances and explore unknown possibilities is directly correlated to the results of our past experiences. Our ability to take a risk is based on our perspective of that risk. Applying this same logic to BIM implementation, the decision to adopt BIM does not seem as risky to an Owner with BIM experience as one without. However, BIM adoption is a long-term endeavor, and the perception of risk will change over time. If a project Owner does not experience the immediate gratification of adoption project successes, they may become reluctant to invest more time and money in the BIM adoption process. This reluctance is called BIM Adoption Fatigue.

Owner Visibility and Communication Key to Avoiding BIM Adoption Fatigue

To resist BIM fatigue, Owners require a simple system of timely, accurate reporting of model status to provide visibility into the details (and successes) of your BIM projects. Written executive reports or data-rich interactive graphical dashboards can both be utilized for this purpose, so long as both are regularly updated to accurately reflect model status that facilitates real-time decision making (design changes, clash resolution, asset data deliverables, etc.). However, effective executive dashboards provide more insight on BIM progress, illustrating BIM risks and the status of addressing/resolving each risk item (i.e., relative success rate), helping keep Owners engaged in the BIM development process, and staving off BIM fatigue.

BIM fatigue can derail the best laid BIM adoption plans. Still, accurate, real-time model status reporting delivers immediate ROI and highlights project team successes keeping everyone engaged in the business of meeting planned BIM goals and reducing project risk.