Many building structures due to complex geometry and nonlinear material properties are difficult to be analyzed with FEM methods. A good example is a self-supporting metal plates structure. Considering uncommon geometry and material characteristic of a metal plate (due to plastic deformations, cross section of a trough, a goffer pattern), the local loss of stability can occur in unexpected regions. Therefore, the hybrid experimental-numerical methodology of analysis and optimization of metal plates structures has been developed. The methodology is based on three steps of development and validation of a numerical model with utilization of Digital Image Correlation measurements. In each step, the measurements are performed in different environments, with different accuracies and different scales. In this paper, the results of analysis performed with Digital Image Correlation, that enabled development and validation of FEM model are presented. The performed modification of a measurement setup is also described.