ABSTRACT
In order to create more habitable environments, research is necessary to understand users’ attitudes and preferences about environments in which they dwell. An integral part of the behaviorally defined design process is the evaluation of existing environments in regard to user perception and performance within a set of given environmental factors. The list of recommendations contains design criteria which have evolved from the results of this study on behavioral response to student housing. Following a few pilot studies, the session for construction of attitude statements about dormitories was held. The results yielded information about features of dormitories which were relevant and mattered to their users, in the language spoken by dormitory inhabitants. For presentation in the scaling sessions an equal number of positive and negative statements in random order were included. The validation procedure was to prove that the method of measuring verbalized response to physical environment can be used as a reliable evaluation tool.
