Spatial Design: User Experience and Design Perspectives
2025. 01. 24.
From a user's perspective, only the elements they care about will be important to spatial experience. For example, for those concerned with light and shadow, light sources and resulting shadows are crucial; for those focused on furniture, the arrangement and combination of interior furnishings matter; for those interested in sound, the space's shape and finishing materials are key. For those prioritizing safety, the belief in an environment where floors won't collapse and structures won't shake is important—though this belief is less about unseen structural details and more about a simple trust that the visible environment will remain stable during their stay.
Conversely, most elements users don't care about will have no impact on spatial experience. Countless people traverse subway stairs without noticing dust in the corners, which has virtually no effect until it visibly accumulates. Some stones on the roadside might go unnoticed for months, and their disappearance would go unnoticed. A water leak from pipes above the ceiling that flows along the structure without penetrating the ceiling finish would likely be invisible and thus not immediately problematic for spatial experience. Space designers and managers' role is to distinguish what users do and don't notice, ensuring that the elements users care about are effectively communicated by the space.
Returning to the earlier example of water flowing along structures: if this water causes unchecked structural corrosion compromising building safety, the situation changes. If the structural issues progress to visible wall cracks or spatial distortions perceivable by typical users, it's already potentially a dangerous scenario. In this context, designers and managers must also carefully manage unseen "backstage" events to prevent spatial experience disruptions. This is why architecture students study building codes, structural engineering, urban design, and various building systems and details—to understand these backstage occurrences.
Applying the previous perspective that "if space is a platform mediating people's experiences, and designing space, experiences, and methods of creation is an architect's job, then virtual space design isn't strange within architectural domains," designing and managing virtual spaces requires understanding not just what users care about and how to implement those elements, but also comprehending the backstage operations. Particularly, understanding potential bugs in virtual spaces corresponding to real-world safety issues seems crucial to architectural practice.