Getting to know user's mental image by in-depth interviewing
Decades long researches show strong relation between the usage patterns of urban spaces and user's mental images of these spaces - the less present certain places are in the mental images of users less likely it is that these places will be used by them and vice versa. The presence of open public spaces in the mental image of users can be investigated in details by in-depth interviews. By applaying the interview as a research technique the interviewee is given an opportunity to express his/her own notion of the world he/she lives in and thus help decisionmakers and designers to provide better spaces - that is spaces that will meet users' needs and expectations better. The presentation will discuss the possibilities of the interviewing as a research technique in the field of open urban public space design and its possible combinations with other research techniques.
Moderator: Stefan DECORTE (to be confirmed)
Report by: Christine SCHAUT
Researcher – Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia
Matej Niksic is an architect, he finished MA in urban design at Oxford Brookes University and PhD in architecture at the University of Ljubljana. He works at the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia as a researcher. His current research focuses on the relation between the open urban public spaces and the mental image that users hold on these spaces.
