Effects of design principles on visitors' perception in museum spaces

Museums have changed through the time. Visitors have different expectations about museums. The roles of museums as educational institutions have been changed. Today visitors would not go to museums only for purpose of learning; they also go for spending time and entertainment. So interior spaces of museums should facilitate the establishing of a pleasant environment to satisfy visitors. One of important way in attracting visitors in museums today is design of interior spaces of museums. This process follows by a crucial need to define optimized design principles which allow for further changes in either internal or external architecture of museums. It is worth noting that the visitors‟ perception of a museum visit should be understood by the designers. This thesis investigates effects of design principles on visitors‟ perception which possess a significant role on the definition of interior space. The methods used in this thesis is based on literature review for collecting data, observation to identify and analyze design principles used in museum spaces and also questionnaire method to ask visitors‟ opinions about the effects of these identified design principles. By comparing the result of observation and the questionnaire the final results would be obtained. The purpose of the study is to identify design principles that have been applied for arranging and presenting objects and pictures and displays in museum spaces to investigate their effects on visitors‟ perception. This research would be helpful for further study to find out the correct way of design of museum spaces to create positive effects on visitors and make them interested in visiting museums. Keywords: Visitors‟ Perception, Museum Space, Museum Design, Design Principles