Ontwerpen voor de gebruiker: het nut van omgevingspsychologische expertise in het ontwerpproces

This article describes the practice and knowledge of designing. It especially focuses on the ability of designers to decide correctly about the fields of the design where their knowledge is restricted or even lacking. The designers’ knowledge about the (potential) users of the environment is often insufficient. Environmental psychologists could provide additional knowledge from theory, research literature, evaluation of environments in use, and experiences from other projects. Their contribution could be especially useful in the analysis at the beginning of the design process, in the evaluation of concepts and at the end with the explanation of the perceptional, experiential, and behavioral qualities of the design.