Behavioural responsiveness of virtual users for students’ creative problem-finding in architectural design

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Abstract
Previous theories have hypothesised that the behavioural responsiveness of autonomous, anthropomorphic computer-agents of virtual users (VUsers) influences designers’ creative problem-finding in architectural design; however, this assumption has not yet been investigated. To examine this hypothesis, the present study compared the presence and non-presence of VUsers and used responsive and non-responsive VUsers in students’ authentic problem-finding. Statistical analyses based on the students’ self-assessments revealed that: (1) the presence of VUsers better facilitates the discovery of more unexpected and functional design solutions, as well as more evaluations of the usability and values of design solutions, including users’ safety and comfort, than the non-presence of VUsers; (2) VUsers’ responsive behaviours facilitated the discovery of more unexpected and physical functions of design solutions, as well as more evaluations of users’ safety and comfort, than non-responsive VUser behaviours; and (3) when the behavioural details were not distinctive, the evaluation scores were indifferent.

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