What do you think should be done to get Archicad a bigger market share ?

[Anonymous]

I personally find ARCHICAD way more powerful, easy to use, faster and all in all innovative than other solutions like Revit. However since Revit is backed up by Autodesk and long years of Autocad dominance, ARCHICAD isn’t leading in terms of market share, what do you think GRAPHISOFT should do better? Do you think it’s enough for them to just push for a better product ? Or is there something else you would do ?

[DGSketcher]

I personally find AC a great tool and quite flexible, BUT my biggest irritation is the user interface. The program gets bogged down when trying to find settings, some of which are nested several layers deep in almost unrelated menus, (PBC values is an example) and it is getting worse as each version is released. The questions from noobs and the expert responses is a good illustration; someone says they can't understand why something isn't displaying as expected and the wheels start turning slowly to try and identify where the problem lies in the maze of element settings, pen sets, view settings, material settings, renovation status, graphic overrides. And that's not allowing for new and unaddressed bugs requiring workarounds. The design process shouldn't be this complicated. I have been using AC since v4 and there are days when I scratch my head as to where an elusive setting is hiding. The original Sketchup was an excellent example of a keep it simple interface using minimum tools and options whilst still being able to achieve complex designs. Get back to a simpler interface and AC would gain a lot more users particularly those who have little time for Autodesk's arrogance.

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, there is only so much you can do when it comes to software development to attract new users or to get bigger share of the market. I work in a relatively large "Archicad" office, in a country where Archicad is relatively common, but even we get sometimes requests from large clients to deliver some projects in Revit. And then it raises questions from our bosses if we should start hiring people who can work in Revit as well or even if we are going to be "forced" to switch to Revit if we keep getting such requests more often. And I think that is the biggest issue, not that Revit is better than Archicad, but that it is becoming so big, that it becomes the new standard for BIM.

I think that Archicad can attract individuals to start using their software instead of Revit, but I think that making a larger established Revit office to switch to Archicad is unrealistic. For a company of say 100 people that would mean an extreme labor cost and a temporary productivity decline which they usually can not afford. Not to mention the need to train the new people in the future for the "less common" (I might even say in some countries "non-standard") software. Yes, it can be done and it is done in other industries as well, but the switch is usually for the "more common" software, not vice versa.

[Anonymous]

Besides updated library parts from vendor as others have mentioned would be the interface with autocad files. many engineering firms use autocad and the translation is such a chore I tell potential clients I won't work on jobs from autocad anymore its not worth it. I will still use their site plan but i end up spending hours making changes to my needs

Been using since AC 4.1 but the vendor library parts available to Revit have me thinking its time to retire lucky I'm a one man office and can pick and choose my jobs but even Archicad is becoming a pain the new stairs are a pain and I can't get the railing to work at all so I still use the ones from AC19 as long as I can and why I will think long and hard before upgrading to 23.

Archicad could go to a monthly pay system that also upgrades monthly without any changes to the Basic system as in quite changing symbols, quit changing where everything is within the pulldowns quit changing nomenclature and quite making things harder, some tools now take 4 to 5 clicks or key moves when they took 2 in the past. Moving things just to prove you did something is not an upgrade

[GOBA]

I know that what I am going to say is not the solution to get a bigger market share, but why Graphisoft is usually addressing the message to architects, and excludes other technicians, as engineers? Even now that I am using ArchiCAD, after a very meditated decision between ArchiCAD and Revit, when I see this kind of advertising (for example, in LInkedin), it makes me hesitate if I have made a good decision. Even in the web, they present the “re-engineered column and beam tools”, and they say “ARCHICAD 23 enables architects to model …”. If I hadn’t been able to test Revit and ArchiCAD, I wouldn’t think in ArchiCAD as a suitable software for engineers. Maybe it’s not suitable, and I am mistaken.

[Jp1138]

ron wrote:
...
Archicad could go to a monthly pay system...

The moment that happens the moment I go to Revit without looking back, as having a perpetual licences is one of the bigger reasons for getting Archicad over Revit.

[Eduardo Rolon]

AC has always been available in a monthly system so you mean "subscription only", though I always preferred the "hourly keys" (pay for 100, 300 hrs of use instead of a month".

[Da3dalus]

ArchiCAD was historically touted as a dedicated program FOR Architects, BY Architects. This was in response to years of disappointment in products like AutoCAD that were used by many different professions. Being that there are a relatively small number of Architects out there, our concerns were never addressed. Graphisoft has always been very responsive to Architect-specific needs. It would be a pity to lose that focus.

That being said, it's been announced that ArchiCAD will be adapting for use by Structural Engineers in the next version. Improvements to the Columns and Beams, as well as the Opening Tool, are steps in that direction. Connections for finite element analysis are in testing.

We have also had an MEP Modeler add-on for years. I truly hope it is further developed, and can someday be used for actual engineering, not just duct and pipe models.

And as I'm discovering, Revit is a horrific site modeling tool. ArchiCAD does a pretty good job of working with Civil Engineers on site work. Meshes are very flexible, and can be imported from a total station XYZ point scan.

GOBA wrote:
I know that what I am going to say is not the solution to get a bigger market share, but why Graphisoft is usually addressing the message to architects, and excludes other technicians, as engineers? Even now that I am using ArchiCAD, after a very meditated decision between ArchiCAD and Revit, when I see this kind of advertising (for example, in LInkedin), it makes me hesitate if I have made a good decision. Even in the web, they present the “re-engineered column and beam tools”, and they say “ARCHICAD 23 enables architects to model …”. If I hadn’t been able to test Revit and ArchiCAD, I wouldn’t think in ArchiCAD as a suitable software for engineers. Maybe it’s not suitable, and I am mistaken.

[Nader Belal]

Ok guys, this idea is just a theory and I have to ask you to bear with me a moment.

One of the things that I have always observed in the ArchiCAD's users community, is the lack of interaction between its member (in absolute total number) compared to other programs users communities, and when those interactions occurs, it lacks depth also compared to other users community.

It happens that the theory of data (correct me if I'm wrong) says that the more that data is concentrated in one place, the better it should be since that the opportunities to form links between every bit of data increase, that in overall permits the creation of a more complex structure of data.

TL;DR We need that more and more users have easier and more direct access to information, and above all Graphisoft must act as catalytizer to for more users interaction, and in that aspect Graphisoft is lacking

[Nader Belal]

I have got an idea for Graphisoft,

BIMx was the perfect tool for many AEC professionals to show off their work, on-site follow up, etc ... I even have found a manual specially made for Revitians on how to export models in Revit to show it on BIMx.

What if Graphisoft would take the same development that was invested in BIMx, and made an FM program and BIM package for client follow-up, that way you have 3 distinctive programs for key aspect of project management on different phases for building life time using the same core programming.

[rob2218]

In order for Archicad to get bigger market?.............The Users, Graphisofts best resources, Graphisofts BIM Soldiers on the field.............need to go OUT AND PROMOTE this software.............PERIOD.