Archen™ Insights
What firms that don't lose disputes read.
Research and original thinking on how design firms keep better records, and why it matters when a project goes wrong.
Research and frameworks on project knowledge, a few times a month. No spam.
Decision Debt
The $31 Billion Problem Hiding Inside Every Project
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The State of Design Operations
Most firms do not have a system for how a decision survives. They have a person who remembers.
What Automated Interior Design Software Actually Means (And What It Does Not)
The difference determines whether you are buying time back with no additional effort, or buying a faster version of the same manual work you are already doing.
What to Document on Every Interior Design Project (and Why Each Category Matters)
The firms that close projects cleanly do not have more detailed records. They have complete records. Every category. Every project. No exceptions.
How to Document Scope Changes in Interior Design Projects (and Turn Every Variation Into a Paid, Protected Record)
The scope change you don't document becomes the dispute you can't win. A five-step system for capturing every change in writing.
The $120,000 Gap
Across more than 2,200 architecture and engineering firms, the realization-rate gap on a $500,000 project comes to $120,000 to $160,000. Without billing a single additional hour.
Your First Hire
Your first hire isn't another you. It's whoever's been picking up what you keep dropping.
The Four Places a Design Decision Goes to Die
Most design firms document decisions. They just document them somewhere nobody looks.
What AI for Design Gets Wrong
The AI conversation in design is focused on the wrong layer of the business.
How to Track Client Approvals in Interior Design (and Build the Record That Protects Your Firm)
Getting an approval and proving one are two different skills. A five-step system for the second.
The 60% Difference
Formal phase approvals correlate with 60% fewer late-stage revisions. Most studios have not built the practice.
Where Design Projects Leak $31 Billion a Year
The construction and design industry loses $31 billion a year to miscommunication, not bad design.
The Asset Nobody Talks About
A design firm’s most valuable asset lives in one person’s head. And no one talks about it.
Where Your Hours Actually Go
A design principal may be billing fewer hours per week than their most junior employee. Here is why.