The Participatory Position of the User in the Design Process of Residential Spaces

Statement of the Problem: 

Different people and strata in human societies need a shelter called housing. The design process of this type of space is done in different ways, and the possibility of using the user's opinions during this process has always been desired by the design community because users are considered influential members in this matter. In recent years, the participatory approach has played an important role as an appropriate response to this process. However, the special contemporary conditions, according to the way of house selection and the view of the designers, have made their involvement in the category of participation very diverse.

 This study seeks to explain and measure the level and quality of user participation in the design process. Therefore, the study investigates, firstly, in what topics and secondly, to what extent the user can enter into this process.

 The present study uses the grounded theory approach to achieve its goals.

 The results show the extent and manner of the user's participation in the different stages of the design process during a three-stage and back-and-forth activity, where the user's contribution is more important at the ‘level of influence through the declaration of needs’ and the architect's contribution is at the ‘level of participation through applying specialized considerations’.

Innovation: 

The innovation of the research is in obtaining the model and its components using grounded theory and presenting a three-stage model of user participation in the design process.