Optimization of Digital Construction Supervision Systems through Field Practitioner Usability Evaluation and Gap Analysis

The domestic construction industry continues to face persistent productivity challenges, often leading to increased project costs and schedule delays. Despite considerable advances in digital technologies, the practical implementation of digital solutions at construction sites remains limited, due to insufficient consideration of realistic working conditions and user needs. In this study, a digital supervision system optimized for mobile devices was developed to digitize core supervision processes, including inspection request confirmation, inspection execution, result notification, and access to supervision records. Investigation was adopted, involving experts with over 15 years of field experience, to systematically evaluate the usability and field applicability of the system. The assessment focused on four key domains: physical accessibility and usability, improvement of work efficiency, ease of learning and accessibility, and reflection of existing work practices. Both importance and performance were rated for each domain, and the gaps were analyzed to identify priority areas for improvement. The results revealed that the integration with existing workflows was the most critical factor for successful adoption, yet also exhibited the greatest performance gap. While the system excelled in data management and retrieval, there remained a strong need for further automation and enhanced user guidance, particularly in inspection execution. All participants expressed a high intention to use the system in the future, underscoring its potential value despite current limitations. This study highlights the necessity of user-centered approaches in digital system development and provides practical recommendations for advancing the digital transformation of construction supervision. Future research should expand the sample size and construction types to validate and refine these findings.