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Article Information:
Title:
Affective design of waiting areas in primary healthcare
Author(s):
Ebru Ayas, Jorgen Eklund, Shigekazu Ishihara
Journal:
Year:
2008
Volume:
Issue:
Page:
389 - 408
ISSN:
1754-2731
DOI:
10.1108/17542730810881366
Publisher:
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Acknowledgements:
The authors would like to thank Mattias Elg for his feedback and discussions on the study and psychologist, Ms Rebecka Lundgren, who graduated from Linköping University in 2007, for her work during interviews. Special thanks are due to Ms Maria Rasch and Ms Marie Lindström from Östergötland County Council, Sweden for their fruitful discussions during the planning of the study.
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Abstract:
Purpose – This paper seeks to deal with affective design of waiting areas (servicescapes) and has twofold aims. The first, is to explore affective values for waiting areas. The second, is to identify interactions between physical design attributes and affective values.
Design/methodology/approach – This study included a free association method for data collection, applying
Findings – The selected waiting areas show significant differences for their perceived affective qualities. The most desired feeling for creating affective values is found to be “calm”. The core design attributes contributing to this feeling are privacy, colours, child play-areas and green plants. Good design of lighting, seating arrangements and a low sound level are also important design attributes to give a more complete design solution.
Research limitations/implications – The study provides useful insights for understanding affective needs in servicescapes, and it provides design suggestions. The results have not been analysed separately for gender or different age groups.
Practical implications – The paper proposes a framework model to be applied when dealing with affective values in servicescapes.
Originality/value – This paper makes an original contribution to understand affective values towards the physical environment in servicescape design. It offers a methodology to study complex environments with many alternative design solutions using limited resources. Moreover, this study uses a combination of a free association method and Rough Sets theory in affective design.
Keywords:
Affective psychology, Community health centres, Design, Health services sector, Rooms
Article Type:
Research paper