Comparison of Conventional and Computer-aided Drafting Methods from the View of Time and Drafting Quality

Problem Statement: Drafting course is essential for students in the design disciplines for becoming more organized and for complying with standards in the educational system. Drafting knowledge is crucial, both for comprehension of the issues and for the implementation phase. In any design project, drafting performance and success are as important as the design process, especially in the educational environments aimed at professional life. However, there have been relatively any studies undertaken in the area of the success and time saving of the conventional drafting and computer-aided drafting (CAD) techniques, besides the design process, especially for furniture and interior design educations. In this direction, some questions emerge in the study. Is there really a difference on quality, success and drafting time between conventional drafting and CAD techniques in interior drafting field? If there is a difference, at which time or process does the drafting technique gain speed?Purpose of study: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of conventional and computer-aided drafting (CAD) techniques on drafting performances of design students. Furthermore, it was explored which technique was more time, speed and quality-efficient.Methods: To verify this study, students were asked to draw a sample of a two-dimensional technical drawing with an interior plan by using the conventional and CAD techniques at different times within a 60-minute period. The task was designed to ensure that the students understood the principles of technical drawing and could edit sufficiently to draft the plan.Findings and Results: According to the results, it can be stated that there was no meaningful difference between the decision-making process for choosing the drawing method and perceiving the drawing was made by the students with both methods in the first 5 minutes. The difference in quality may be due to the advantages of the CAD technique at the 30th minute. At the end of the 60th minute, a huge difference was observed between the conventional and CAD and the CAD was more successful than the conventional drafting. Consequently, the CAD technique has a better outcome from the aspect of time and quality compared to the conventional technique.Conclusions and Recommendations: It can be stated that CAD has a significant impact on the drafting performances of design students from the aspect of time spent. The furniture and interior design departments should place emphasis on the educational process for the drafting technique in order to increase quality and save time. The drafting course hours should be increased for the design students, so that drafting success can become more efficient for those entering in the professional area.