From Emotion Concept to Spatial Experience: An Investigation into the Design Process of Diploma Interior Design Students at a Private University in Selangor

Abstract

This research aims to study the process of the interior design students in the diploma program in the process of converting an emotion concept into a spatial design product, which involves four creative processes, namely: sketching, abstract painting, pattern creation, concept model production. Though it has been recognised that emotion is a valid design motivator [1,7,9] little has been understood about the experiences of the interior design students at the diploma level in Malaysia with respect to the particular experiences of this translation process when it comes to a private university environment. The methodology used was convergent mixed-methods design with a single structured questionnaire containing closed items of 5-point Likert scale and open-ended reflective questions filled by all the target population of 25 students. Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics, and non-parametric tests (Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests) were used, in line with the recommendations for robust small sample mixed methods educational research [5] and qualitative responses were analysed thematically. The results show that concept model-making activity is the perceived most effective of the three activities in achieving the emotion concept in space while the activity abstract painting is the lowest compared to the other two activities, namely pattern-making and model-making, and the activity of model-making is generally perceived as having the largest effect on the student's final design. The students' confidence in taking their ideas from 2D to 3D was also less than their confidence in creating an idea in the first place, which is again in line with other findings about the cognitive challenges of creating ideas in space using a tool-mediated approach [13]. Results of the qualitative analysis showed the value of visual reference platforms, and the great difficulty of making emotion literal. The results add to the emotion in design literature, and evidence-based recommendations are given to improve the emotion-based design brief pedagogy in the diploma program of interior design.