Using User Scenarios to Exemplify Human-Centred Design Approach for Taiwanese Housing Developments

Abstract

The user-centred design approach to housing development requires definitive processes to predict homebuyers’ existing and future needs. The scenarios of use offered here establish parameters for design when the actual situation of future occupants is not known, thereby modelling the attitudes and responses of potential homebuyers throughout design and construction. To develop the highest level of customisation to meet homebuyers’ specific requirements and changing needs over time, the vertical and horizontal relationships between the different stages of housing development is especially considered. This paper advances scenarios for the ‘use’ and according reconfiguration of the base building for Taiwanese housing development to accommodate homebuyer’s individual and changing circumstances, needs and preferences over times. Following the concepts of ‘support’ and ‘in-fill’, each interior configuration is presented at two stages — service stage and interior fit-out stage — during which detachable interior modules are organized to create rooms, storage, partitions, cabinets, and water supply and drainage facilities, electrical wiring, communication lines and gas piping is distributed from the service docks to the structural envelope of the building shell. The representation of the dwelling at the interior fit-out stage indicates the lifestyle and life stage of residents and the flexibility of interior design that can be achieved through the base building system. The transition from one scenario of use to another demonstrate that all interior walls are reconfigurable, highlighting the ability of the home to be altered over time.