In accordance with the ever growing value of design in business, the scale of design project has been increasingly expanded in recent years. As jobs in a design project become more complicated and the number of designers in a design organization increases, needs for the use of computer technology in managing a design project have been stressed. This study aims to identify the nature of design project management in order to find out how computer technology can be used in effective mangement of design project process. It also aims to develop a practical model of computer-supproted design project management system(CSDPMS). The nature of design project management including definitions, types, elements and others, have been studied in connection with various theories and know-hows related to the effective management of project process. The life cycle of design project has been divided into four major phases, viz, conceptual phase, formative phase, operational phase, and termination phase in order to identify practical problems in each phase. A survey on computer application in design project has been undertaken along with a comparative study on various project management softwares used in general business environment. The model developed in this study is an application software which can be very useful for the design manager who handles simultaneously various design projects in a design organization. The model has been developed primarily for use in UNIX and X window environment with mini-computers. It also can be used in personal computer with minor alteration of the hardware and software envirenments. The model manages a comprehensive database which related to the scheduling, budgeting, resource distribution and process controlling. The model comprises five functional modules:First module has functions of handling the overal project information;The second has functions of operating and controlling a variety of phases in design project process. This module can link with other purpose-built design applications if necessary;The thrid is solely for budgeting, and the forth is resource management;The final module has functions of communicating with various project participants. The major advantage of the model can be summarized as the effectiveness of building and using of a comprehensive database which enables the design manager hadles simultaneously a variety of design projects in a corporate design group or a design consuling firm.
