A Composite Study on the Impact of Changes in Lifestyle of a Family with Children on the Soban Design

In a rapidly developing society, people's demand for daily necessities, especially furniture, constantly upgrades, bringing new challenges to design practice. One significant reason for these changes is the emergence and growth of children in the family environment. At the same time, the spatial and structural dimensions of the family environment are also constantly shrinking. Despite these realities, existing designs of "soban"-a traditional type of Korean furniture-often fail to fully consider the impact of these lifestyle changes, rendering them unsuitable for modern needs. This study adopts a user-centered approach to explore how changes in children's lifestyles affect the design of "soban." A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative methods to collect data from different perspectives. The study's main results indicate that changes in children's lifestyles significantly impact the functionality, comfort, and aesthetics of "soban". In addition, this study found that consumers prefer easy-to-use and disposable assembly furniture, which is related to the decreasing presence of traditional high-priced Korean furniture in the market. This research emphasizes the importance of considering the constantly changing family structure and lifestyle (especially children's family structure and lifestyle) in the design process by exploring user-centered furniture design. It provides valuable insights and novel methods to help furniture designers adapt to the ever-changing consumer demands and social changes.