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🏛️ Platform Structure

An Inform design is organised into four main sections, each representing a different stage of the design exploration and decision-making process.

Together, these sections support a complete workflow: Generate → Explore → Trends → Compare, moving from model interaction to systematic evaluation and final selection.

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Generate​

Generate is the primary workspace for interacting with the design model.

This section is used to:

  • Adjust input parameters coming from the Grasshopper script
  • Preview geometry updates in real time
  • Review charts and outputs produced by the model
  • Manually explore design options one configuration at a time

Generate is where design intent is tested and refined, and where the first variants are created.
All interactions in this section directly influence what becomes available for further analysis.

➡️ Go to the Generate Section documentation to learn more about inputs, presets, layers, the geometry viewer, and charts.

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Explore​

Explore is the analysis and optioneering environment of the platform.

This section becomes available after:

  • The design has been published, and
  • A ParameterSpace has been created

Explore allows users to:

  • Visualise all explored variants simultaneously
  • Compare variants across multiple inputs and outputs
  • Filter the design space using performance-driven criteria
  • Identify trends, trade-offs, and outliers

Rather than evaluating options one by one, Explore enables a data-driven understanding of the entire solution space.

➡️ Go to the Explore Section documentation to learn how to use ParameterSpace, filter variants, create presets, and export data.

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📈 Trends​

Trends is the data-analytics section of the platform.

This section becomes fully available after:

  • The design has been published, and
  • 30 designs have been computed.

Trends allows users to:

  • Explore regression relationships between inputs and outputs
  • Run sensitivity analyses to identify which inputs drive performance
  • Visualise Pareto fronts to understand trade-offs between competing objectives
  • Compare outputs with bar plots showing mean and spread across categorical values

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➡️ Go to the Trends Section documentation to learn how to use different analytics.

🆚 Compare​

Compare is the decision-support section of the platform.

This section becomes available after:

  • At least two presets have been created

Compare is used to:

  • Analyse selected presets side-by-side
  • Focus on a small number of shortlisted options
  • Review performance metrics and qualitative differences
  • Support final design decisions and recommendations

Compare represents the final step in the workflow, transforming exploration results into actionable conclusions.

➡️ Go to the Compare Section documentation to learn how to review presets and perform detailed comparisons.

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🧠 Typical Workflow​

A typical InForm workflow follows these steps:

  1. Generate – interact with the model and explore initial variants
  2. Explore – analyse and filter the design space using ParameterSpace
  3. Trends – compare many different designs through analytics
  4. Compare – review shortlisted options and support decision-making

Each section builds on the previous one, ensuring a structured and transparent design exploration process.