Interior designers' computer applications in professional practice: Implications for interior design education

The intent of this study was to determine, through the opinions of interior design professionals, the extent to which graduates have received adequate and appropriate computer application instruction from their colleges and universities. The second purpose was to determine which computer applications and software programs are being used in the interior design professions. The sample for this study was interior designers who are members of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). After a response rate analysis of related studies and a power analysis, a sample size of 1000 ASID members was selected from the ASID computer systems. The instrument was a questionnaire developed by the researcher requesting demographic information about the designers' firms, computer usage, and adequacy of computer instruction received as students. The researcher received a 25% response rate from the actual study mailing.; The data were analyzed through frequency percentages and the chi-square statistic. The most common and frequently used business computer applications were word processing, accounting and spreadsheet. Both the larger size firms and the firms specializing in contract work predominantly used computer applications. Recent interior designer graduates had received computer instruction in mostly 2-D CAD and 3-D CAD. About 50% of the recent interior designers believed they had received adequate instruction from their design degree program, while the other half did not. Of those designers who were not satisfied, the most common complaint was the lack of advanced CAD instruction. Based on this information, interior design educational programs should attempt to incorporate computer applications into all aspects of the curriculum.