A Study on the Correlation between Consumer's Basic Needs and Design Preference : Analyses of Related Psychological Principles

(Background and Purpose) Maslow categorized human needs as basic needs, social needs, and self-fulfillment needs. He suggested these needs in a hierarchical structure and emphasized that even though self-fulfillment needs are one of fundamental needs of human beings, people want the satisfaction of higher needs only when lower basic needs are satisfied. Because basic needs have been satisfied in terms of its material aspects in the 20th century, consumers now increasingly want to meet their psychological needs. The design paradigm reflecting this change is "human-centered design". An important point in human-centered design is to reflect the understanding of consumer psychology. Regarding consumer psychology, this paper focused on the correlation between the design preference and the satisfaction of consumer's basic needs (physiological needs and safety needs). (Method) Chapter 2 and 3 used literature review as the main research methodology. Chapter 4 proceeded with qualitative case analyses and the results were summarized in radar chart diagrams of quantitative analyses. The flagship stores are selected for the case analyses. The flagship store is the place that emphasizes customer experiences, so it is important to apply principles of design psychology to its planning and composition. (Results) Psychological principles related to safety needs were analyzed as Prospect-Refuge Theory (humans prefer a space which has both a view point and a hiding place.), Savanna Preference (humans prefer savanna-like environments.), Needs for Personal Space (humans unconsciously want to defend the invisible psychological space surrounding their body.), Defensible Space Theory (spaces with signs of territoriality, surveillance, and symbolic barriers are difficult for others to trespass.), Uncanny Valley (user's preference drops sharply when the human-imitation form is halfway similar to a real human image.), and Contour Bias (curved objects generate human's emotional preferences while angled objects stimulate thoughts.). Psychological principles related to physiological needs were analyzed as Biophilia Effect (body reactions are positively improved when human beings are in an environment with natural images.), Classical Conditioning (neutral stimulus can become positive when it is repeatedly associated with positive stimulus.), and Color Therapy Effect (color can act as a factor in stimulating muscles, mind, and nerves.). In Chapter 4, two flagship stores (Hyundai Motor Studio Goyang & Sulwhasoo Flagship Store) were analyzed in detail. As a result, it was confirmed that there is a high correlation between the flagship store's design and psychological principles related to consumer's basic needs. (Conclusions) This paper is part of the studies for psychological principles that designers need to know in order to improve user's preference for the design. However, more principles for improving design preferences still exist in addition to the ones analyzed in this paper. In order to develop human-centered designs preferred by consumers, designers must have sufficient knowledge of these principles.