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Design Effectiveness Surveys Overview

We all know from firsthand experience how easily the built environment can make performing even the simplest activities difficult. Whether it is making our way through the entrances of public restrooms, using street crossings at intersections or just putting away groceries in our kitchens, good design can ensure that the built environment makes performing these activities easier for all of us.

A research team at the State University of New York’s School of Architecture and Planning in Buffalo is conducting a study of built environments' influences on activity performance. In the 2008 collection of data from the Problematic Activities Surveys, over 600 survey participants with varying functional and sensory abilities identified the activities that pose the greatest problem for them in three built environments:

  • Public Buildings (for example: using entrances, public telephones, etc.)
  • Public Streets (for example: using sidewalks, pedestrian traffic signals, etc.)
  • Residential Environments (for example: using cupboards, sink areas, etc.)

In this round of Design Effectiveness Surveys, participants will be given the opportunity to evaluate how effective certain designs are in resolving these problems.

How to Participate

To participate in the Design Effectiveness Surveys, you must provide Informed Consent. Next you will be asked to provide some general information about yourself that will help us analyze the responses we get from your surveys. Then you will be given opportunities to evaluate how effective certain designs are in resolving selected problematic actives in the three built environments. After you click PROVIDE INFORMED CONSENT below, you will be given additional information about the research study and asked if you agree to participate in the study as described.

Surveys

Now that you have provided Informed Consent and told us some general information about yourself, we would like you to tell us how effective certain designs are in resolving selected problematic activities. Please bookmark this page if you do not complete all three surveys, so you can come back at your leisure to finish the rest.

Sponsor

This study is being conducted by the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA) through its Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Universal Design and the Built Environment (RERC-UD) with funding provided by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).