A network from AVIXA
In my recent May 21 post, Measuring Success: Why AV Deserves a Rating System, I posed a simple question:
What if AV had a performance-based rating system—like LEED, WELL, or LSRS—that evaluated how people see, hear, share, and collaborate in space?
The Digital Experience Rating System (DXRS) idea has the potential to transform how we design, integrate, and service. It’s more than a checklist or spec template—it’s a proposal to give AV professionals a seat at the design table from the start, not just after the drywall goes up.
We’ve made great strides as an industry with AVIXA audio, video, and control standards. But we still lack a planning framework that clients, architects, IT teams, and facilities managers can understand, adopt, and champion.
That’s the role DXRS is built to fill.
The Gap: AV is Still Too Reactive
Every AV professional has seen it:
The result? Poor experiences, late-phase change orders, and disappointed users who blame the tech.
It’s not a hardware problem—it’s a planning problem.
The Solution: DXRS as a Performance Planning Framework
The Digital Experience Rating System is structured to evaluate AV-integrated spaces across eight measurable categories:
Each category has clearly defined, standards-informed sub-criteria. Together, they create a 50-point scoring system to guide design decisions and post-occupancy evaluation.
AVIXA is the only organization with:
By convening a multidisciplinary task force with representatives from AV, architecture, IT, education, healthcare, and the public sector, we could formally develop and pilot DXRS over the next 12–18 months.
Without a framework like DXRS:
With DXRS, AV becomes:
This isn’t about prescribing brands—it’s about ensuring that technology and experience are part of the design conversation from day one.
AVIXA, let’s lead this. Let’s make DXRS the next industry-defining standard.
Let’s start the conversation! Add your comments here, connect with me at the AVIXA Xchange Advocates program at 4 pm, Wednesday afternoon (W4761) at InfoComm, or contact me at CatalystFactor.
As an architect by training (BS Architecture, Cal Poly SLO) and a collaborative technologist with four decades of practice, I’m passionate about mentoring the next generation of AV professionals in the intersection of technology, strategy, and leadership. I've been active in AVIXA since 1986, and served on the national board, 1993-2000. I'm a Fellow of the Society of Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), and an Associate member of the American Institute of Architects.
My expertise spans audiovisual systems design, integrated building technology, strategic business development, and higher education technology planning. I bring an award-winning, B2B design thinking approach developed through leadership roles with national AEC and technology firms. I’ve led marketing and sales strategy, designed future-ready digital experience environments, and helped organizations implement AI-powered tools to scale expertise and performance.
Xchange Advocates are recognized AV/IT industry thought leaders and influencers. We invite you to connect with them and follow their activity across the community as they offer valuable insights and expertise while advocating for and building awareness of the AV industry.
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An exciting idea, although the challenge is going to be in the quantitative determination of the various categories. But I agree that it's necessary!