Recent research by Day and O’Brien makes it clear how valuable it can be to gather information in several different ways when assessing experiences in spaces provided. A press release from Washington State University reports on their work: “Many researchers know that new high-efficiency buildings don’t typically get used as intended…‘I have seen people taping motion sensor light switches to keep their lights off, people placing popsicles on thermostats to turn on the heat, and even someone taping a quarter onto a window sill to reflect light onto a thermostat to turn on the AC,’ said Day…Occupants in the various studies often showcased poor energy efficiency behavior when looking strictly at the quantitative data. However, through interviews and other qualitative methods (i.e. survey stories), the researchers could understand and explain the behaviors…[an] occupant complained their lights were frequently turning off when they were in their office because their motion sensor was around a corner. So, they put a toy Drinking Bird™ to continuously trigger the motion sensor, regardless if the lights were kept on when the office was empty…‘We were learning more about occupant behavior through open-ended answers in the surveys, versus just looking at the numbers,’ said Day. ‘There is a lot to be learned by looking at both qualitative and quantitative data. We can learn from people’s stories and their behaviors to further reduce energy consumption.’”
Day and O’Brien’s paper was published in Energy Research and Social Science.
“High-Efficiency Building Bloopers Revealed Through Occupant Studies.” 2017. Press release, Washington State University, https://news.wsu.edu/2017/11/13/high-efficiency-building-bloopers-revealed-wsu-led-occupant-studies/
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.