Information as Infrastructure

As design workflows have become more digital, the journey from inspiration to specification has also changed.

Research from ThinkLab highlights a shift in what specifiers value most from manufacturers. Across multiple personas, recurring themes emerge: ease of doing business, confidence in performance, time efficiency, project support, and access to information. The details may vary from one individual to the next, but the direction is remarkably consistent. Information has become a critical part of the customer experience itself.

What is particularly striking is how often digital tools now appear throughout the project journey. Whether the persona is rep-first, brand-first, sustainability-first, or data-first, information is increasingly expected to be available on demand rather than delivered only through direct interaction.

For many manufacturers, product information has traditionally been treated as marketing collateral that is designed to support awareness, generate interest, or reinforce a sales conversation. Increasingly, however, product information functions more like project infrastructure. Specifications, BIM objects, technical drawings, certifications, installation guidance, application imagery, performance data, and documentation are no longer supplemental assets. They are active components of the design process itself.

And when information is fragmented across emails, folders, websites, and individual requests, teams spend valuable time searching instead of designing—and the architecture of decision-making is undermined.

One of the least visible forms of waste in the design and construction process is informational friction, caused by these everyday occurrences:

• Waiting for a detail
• Searching for a drawing
• Verifying a certification
• Confirming a performance claim

Any one of these distractions is tolerable, but collectively they accumulate into hours, days, and sometimes weeks of lost momentum across a project. Every delay introduces uncertainty. Every missing piece of information creates another handoff. Every additional request increases the distance between design intent and execution.

As the industry works to accelerate project delivery, much of the opportunity lies not only in how products are manufactured or installed, but in how information moves.

The conventional assumption is that by making information more accessible, the sales and design professionals who have historically been the gatekeepers will become less important. In fact, the opposite is true. The most valuable conversations rarely involve locating a cross-section detail or confirming a standard dimension. They involve evaluating tradeoffs, navigating constraints, solving problems, and helping clients make better decisions.

When routine information becomes immediately accessible, human expertise can focus on higher-value work and reps can step into the higher value role of strategic partner. In many ways, this mirrors what is happening across the broader design and construction industry. Technology is removing friction so expertise can be applied where it matters most.

As interior architecture becomes increasingly connected, the experience of a product extends well beyond the product itself. The information surrounding that product—how easily it can be discovered, understood, evaluated, specified, and implemented —becomes part of its value.

And as part of this evolution, the manufacturers that create the greatest value will be those that make it easiest for architects, designers, dealers, and project teams to move from inspiration to specification to execution with confidence.

Explore the Haworth Architectural Solutions website to experience how connected information, digital tools, and accessible product content help project teams move from inspiration to execution with greater speed and confidence.