Practice Management Member Conversations

Fellow architects,

After 40+ years in residential practice, I thought I understood client preferences pretty well. Then I posted a simple TikTok video about design trends and got an unexpected response: 527,200+ views, 65.6K likes, 1,942 comments, and 4,778 saves from actual homeowners.

If you've ever tried to get survey responses, you know how difficult it is to gather authentic feedback. The engagement kept growing, but I based my analysis on the first 1,521 detailed comments to capture the initial, most passionate responses-unfiltered reactions from over 1,250 unique voices.

The findings surprised me because only 1 of the top 5 most rejected design elements was mentioned in my original video - the rest came entirely from consumer comments. What emerged from the data:

• Garage-dominated facades: Universal rejection across demographics (8,000+ likes on critical comments)
• Bathroom-accessed closets: Intense privacy concerns-"I feel like I have to secure the perimeter before using the toilet"
• Open floor plans: Growing resistance over practical issues-"people's couches start smelling like fish and you have grease residue on everything"
• House-yard ratio: Strong preference for balanced outdoor space-"Big house no yard seems so strange to me" (2,458 likes)

I analyzed every comment using both frequency and engagement data to identify patterns. The results reveal what consumers are rejecting in residential design - and sometimes knowing what people don't want helps define what they do.

I've compiled this into a report: "Design & Data: Design Trends that Consumers Reject"

Free download here: kevinharrisarchitect.com/blog/design-data-report

This data fills a real void-because it was completely voluntary, we're seeing authentic consumer sentiment that's often missing from traditional research. These aren't responses to leading questions or structured surveys, but spontaneous reactions that reveal what homeowners genuinely care about (or loathed).

The insights might be useful for your own practice conversations, especially when discussing design decisions with clients. And it shows how architects can mine their social media for practice insights. 

Would be interested in your thoughts, especially if you're seeing similar patterns with your clients.

Best,

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Kevin Harris FAIA
Kevin Harris Architect, LLC
Baton Rouge LA
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The residential construction market is driven by product manufacturer advertising and direct product sales to builders and by developer profit and convenience concerns. The consumer is left making the best choice they can among poor choices. Want a bathtub you fit in? Too bad. Don't want a chef's table kitchen? Too bad. Want accessibility-sized entries and doors and shower access? Too bad. And as for that garage door-dominated facade: That's what you get on a 60 foot wide lot. Architects serve the custom house needs of the upper ten percent; the rest buy houses from builders out of date stock plans that their subs have already priced.

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Philip Kabza AIA
SpecGuy Specifications Consultants
Mount Dora FL
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-20-2025 10:40 AM
From: Kevin L. Harris FAIA
Subject: Consumer Research Data That Might Interest Fellow Practitioners

Fellow architects,

After 40+ years in residential practice, I thought I understood client preferences pretty well. Then I posted a simple TikTok video about design trends and got an unexpected response: 527,200+ views, 65.6K likes, 1,942 comments, and 4,778 saves from actual homeowners.

If you've ever tried to get survey responses, you know how difficult it is to gather authentic feedback. The engagement kept growing, but I based my analysis on the first 1,521 detailed comments to capture the initial, most passionate responses-unfiltered reactions from over 1,250 unique voices.

The findings surprised me because only 1 of the top 5 most rejected design elements was mentioned in my original video - the rest came entirely from consumer comments. What emerged from the data:

• Garage-dominated facades: Universal rejection across demographics (8,000+ likes on critical comments)
• Bathroom-accessed closets: Intense privacy concerns-"I feel like I have to secure the perimeter before using the toilet"
• Open floor plans: Growing resistance over practical issues-"people's couches start smelling like fish and you have grease residue on everything"
• House-yard ratio: Strong preference for balanced outdoor space-"Big house no yard seems so strange to me" (2,458 likes)

I analyzed every comment using both frequency and engagement data to identify patterns. The results reveal what consumers are rejecting in residential design - and sometimes knowing what people don't want helps define what they do.

I've compiled this into a report: "Design & Data: Design Trends that Consumers Reject"

Free download here: kevinharrisarchitect.com/blog/design-data-report

This data fills a real void-because it was completely voluntary, we're seeing authentic consumer sentiment that's often missing from traditional research. These aren't responses to leading questions or structured surveys, but spontaneous reactions that reveal what homeowners genuinely care about (or loathed).

The insights might be useful for your own practice conversations, especially when discussing design decisions with clients. And it shows how architects can mine their social media for practice insights. 

Would be interested in your thoughts, especially if you're seeing similar patterns with your clients.

Best,

------------------------------
Kevin Harris FAIA
Kevin Harris Architect, LLC
Baton Rouge LA
------------------------------