Integrated framework of knowledge-based decision support system for user-centered residential design

A user-oriented residential environment is considered essential to providing occupants with a comfortable living experience while meeting their demands. However, design assessment in the early stage of residential design is a complex problem due to multifactor coupling, the diversity in user needs, and the incompleteness of design knowledge. This study proposes an integrated framework of knowledge-based decision support system (KBDSS) to mitigate such problems. In this framework, the user segmentation is performed in accordance with people’s particular requirements priority and, thus, enables design decisions that create better satisfaction among a wider audience. Meanwhile, the quality function deployment approach, decision support system, and fuzzy set theory are used to translate user requirements into quantifiable design specifications, thereby making the design a multicriteria decision-making problem. To illustrate and validate the proposed framework, a case study of a KBDSS for a multiunit residential building kitchen design is demonstrated to explore a user-centered residential design with such decision support. This proposed framework provides naive design practitioners with specific knowledge about decision problems and assists them in consistently making user-centered design decisions. The research results represent a further step toward a systematic methodology of user-centered built environment design.