A Framework for Evaluating Evidence in Evidence-Based Design

A major challenge in the evidence-based design (EBD) practice model has been in determining the degree of credibility of specific (or a body of) evidence. This challenge has remained one of the key impediments to the broader adoption of EBD. Borrowing from evidence-based medicine and evidence-based practice literatures, this paper proposes a framework for evaluating evidence in EBD. Key to the proposed framework is the separation of the evaluation of strength and quality of evidence from the evaluation of appropriateness and feasibility in a specific application context.