PRODUCT-SPACE FIT: INVESTIGATING PRODUCTS WITHIN SPATIAL CONTEXT

Date

2025-11-28

Author

Ural, Pınar

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This study investigates how products relate to their spatial context through perceptual, behavioral, and experiential dimensions. While industrial design often evaluates products in isolation, and architecture tends to subordinate products to spatial concerns, this research highlights the significance of architectural environments in shaping how products are perceived, used, and experienced. A conceptual framework—product–space fit—is proposed to articulate various forms of fits between products and their spatial surroundings. The framework is developed through an elaborate literature review and a qualitative research combining semi-structured interviews, image-based elicitation, and thematic analysis. Ten selected images of domestic interiors were used to prompt space-product interpretations among participants from industrial design, interior architecture, architecture, and non-designer user backgrounds. Fit categories identified in the literature review were employed as sensitizing concepts during hybrid value coding, while new types of fit emerging from participant responses informed the framework’s expansion. Findings indicate that interpretations of product–space relationships can be understood through three dimensions: Design Inclination (does this product belong here?), Programmatic Design (does this product function here?), and Attentive Design (is this product appropriate here?). Although no strict disciplinary boundaries were observed, subtle differences emerged across architects, interior designers, product designers, and non-designer users, corresponding to participants’ professional and experiential backgrounds. Overall, the findings suggest that product–space fit is not inherent to products or spaces alone but emerges through the interaction between contextual design intentions and everyday practices of use.

Subject Keywords

Product-Space Fit, Spatial Context, Product-Environment Relationship, Environmental Congruence, Space-Object Integration

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118273

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis