A user research on the design of TV centered furniture in the living room

Objects, in addition to being items with various positions and functions; act like tools of communication and interaction among people. They are the carriers of cultural values and significant elements of our lives and essential décor of lifestyles. They are products with social messages that our culture is reflected and recorded upon. Objects we use in our homes, which is a particularly important part of our everyday life, are agents of interaction with our social and cultural conditions which form a state of reciprocal influence. Since it was invented, television has a transformative effect on daily life on families. There is a continues relationship between home furnitures and television, even though there are changes by time. It can be observed that the primitive television models are more like a furniture piece which has a screen. In time, the shape of televisions became more like an electronic device, rahter than a furniture piece. However, it is still used with a furniture. The process of using TV with a furniture was started with television table and television cabinet. Since the years of 2000's, because of the development on television technologies, some dramatic changes have been emerged. Televisions became thinner and their scenes got wider by the new technologies. In parallel of those changes, different usage scenarios emerged. The usage scenarios led some shifts on the design of TV centered furnitures. The changes on the design of these furnitures are not only depending on the technological changes and the new designs of the televisions, but it is also related with social, cultural and subjective issues. Beginning with studying on technological shifts on TV and Tv centered furniture, this research focuses on the social and the subjective meanings of the usage of TV table, TV unite and wall unite at home. In this research, the functional and stylistic changes on TV by advancing technologies are studied with changes on the TV focused furniture. Additionally, under the light of social and cultural changes from 1980's to present, the usage of home and especially livingroom where everyone spend the most of their time at home and the usage, design and social content of TV centered furnitures at these rooms were analyzed. The study is started with a literature review. There are quotations from sources which can form a basis for the main research of this research. After the literature review, in the second part which is about television in the daily life, the evolution of TV are examined from the invention of TV to present. This part continues with studying on the first tele castings in the Turkey, the examinations are done with the social and cultural conditions of these period. When we look at the history of TV in Turkey, the increase on the usage of TV was started with attempts at Istanbul Technical University. Starting with a forecasting for a limited area, The forecastings were continued with TRT's (TRT is the channel which is supported by government) single forecasting. The social and cultural changes led private channels opened. The first TVs' at homes were emerged parallel to these developments. At first times of television in Turkey, television was watched on a TV table which has a few shelf and which was maden by formica. While TRT's forecasting period got longer, televisions started to take place in the living room at home and televisions have become a part of everyday life. By changing and developing technlogically and varying in terms of price, since 2000s, design of the TV has been thinner, the screen has got wider. Integration with the internet and three-dimensional viewing while revealing significant differences in design and prices in the market, also caused a transformation within the way TV is located and viewed inside living spaces. These new generation televisions, due to their high prices require a certain purchasing power on consumers. While the earlier televisions have been used with TV units, currently the television is being placed on a special "wall unit" often referred or marketed as the "entertainment unit" in the living room. These wall units in which TV is reserved a central place have; glass doors, multipurpose shelves, drawers on the lower parts and book shelves. Wall unit is designed to fill one wall or construct a wall itself acting like separator of functions within a living room. Different technological devices like receivers, video players, game consoles etc. have their places on this wall unit, but there is also room for decorative objects, too. In the third section, there are quotations from previous researches which are about the concept of saloon that has been an indispensable part of houses after social transformations in Turkey and the use of TV, and TV centered furniture through the utilization of saloon by middle-class families. In the light of quotations from comparisons of saloons and living rooms, saloon furniture and living room furniture are compared in addition to discussion of similarities and differences habits of saloon and living room usage beyond the use of guest room in time of social, economic and cultural changes. After the quotes about the relations between daily life, and rooms, and the attitudes of TV watching, the topic has been continued with the furniture used with TV. Afterwards information about TV centered furniture was conveyed -the main subject of this research- and some visuals were added including wall units and life units. The fourth section of this research includes the methodology of the study. The Qualitative Research Method and Purposive Sampling Techniques were used for determining the sample. Photographs showing the parts of the rooms including TV were taken from the group of sample families and semi-structured face to face interviews were done with those families. In the process of determining families the criterion of having one or more than one TV tables, TV units, wall units, entertainment units were considered beside the security of researcher, the permission and faith of participants for taking photos and voice recordings. Each voice recordings from semi-structured interviews were deciphered and then textualized. The texts were analyzed under the main headings that were already based during the preparation the form of questions. First of all, each statement in the text was marked with color according to type of the head that the statement would be analyzed. The marked statements composing the heads were shown and analyzed in the fifth section. Interviews were separated to headings such as 'findings related to participants and their families, findings related to houses, findings the use of TV and the findings having and using TV centered furniture. In the analyzing part it was tried to be as objective as possible. In order to show the findings explicitly tables were often used. Furthermore, analyzing tables were formed to display the relations and differentiations of the data taken by participants. Those are the results which are come up with the analysis of evidences : Most of the participants tend to store the things that they want to reach fast and mostly need in their daily life in a room which they mostly use. On the other hand, It is concluded that photographs or ornaments, which remind their beloved ones or special moments, are kept near to TV, meaning they care about those people and want to fulfill their longing by seeing them often. Besides, participants can prefer popular furniture at that time when choosing new furniture to their houses.However, if the time when they buy or change their furniture coincide with other changes in their life including marriage, having a child or moving, it is preferred to buy new furniture. Without any change in their life, buying just to change the furniture is not found among the participants. Compared to changes in the furniture, decisions for changes in technological devices can be made more easily depending on the rapid changes in technology and positive changes created by usage standards. Furnitures, on the other hand, are first repaired as far as possible, later they can be used in such areas as balcony, country house or particular parts of the house. Similarly, although they can be changed with new ones more easily, technological devices are not being thrown, but being kept in different rooms in the house. Removing the furnitures like old cabinets and consoles by justifying that they occupy a lot space, makes people choose the TV units which are less depth, and which provide optional storing. Last, the results for usage of the products have been presented in the light of analysis of TV-centered designed furnitures' functions and style.