The concept of meaning in interior and user experience (UX) design as a spatial respresentation tool: A mobile application prototype

In terms of its focus and core challenges, interior design naturally centers on the human being. A user who needs interior design wants their space to reflect or create their values. Before building a space, interior designers create its physical and intangible aspects. The interior designer uses spatial representation tools to propose a design based on user demands, anthropometric, sensory, perceptual, and cultural factors. Spatial representation tools allow the interior designer, space, and user to interact in a common understanding. These tools, usually generated using computer-aided design software, are now provided to users as presentation files with sequential visuals and drawings on digital screens. This makes it hard for users to understand the space and choose amongst options. In this thesis, the processes of communication and meaning construction are examined first, followed by an analysis of the relationship between design and interpretation actions. The aspects that constitute the field of interior design are then defined, along with the spatial representation methods applied in interior design today and their historical development. In the following section, a mobile application prototype that is produced and intended to be a spatial representation tool within the scope of this study is shown with all of its processes (design, development, and usability tests), and in the last section, the impact of the application on the user's comprehension and decision-making process is presented along with findings and comments from a pilot study.