Key Performance Indicators for Measuring and Evaluating Users’ Sensory Perceptions and Behaviors in Learning Spaces in Higher Design Education

The research aims to develop a comprehensive list of key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be employed by designers and businesses in determining the sensory performance of learning spaces, particularly in higher education institutions (HEIs) of design learning. It answers the question of how sense-based performance in learning spaces could be understood, measured, and evaluated and how the field of interior design could create tools for measuring and customizing students' sensory experiences in learning spaces. The research fills the gap created by the non-existence of comprehensive research that identifies a unique set of KPIs for learning spaces based on sensorial metrics in interior space evaluation studies that have sought to identify a set of KPls to measure the performance of learning spaces. The importance of the research would be manifested in the strong connection between the performances of research and teaching spaces and the sensorial performances of those who use them. A four-phase mixed-methods research (MMR) methodology is employed in the study. Each phase is chronologically arranged, encompassing field research and experimental research, with Politecnico di Milano (PoliMl) design school as a field of experiment. The research is expected to provide guidelines for designing and managing the sensory performance of learning environments. Therefore, potential beneficiaries will include interior designers, architects, engineers, contractors, facilities managers, and policymakers in educational establishments. The initial study findings within PoliMI learning community regarding the sensory experiences in various classrooms at the design campus revealed that sight is the most significant sense of all. Furthermore, lighting, ventilation, and acoustics are the most effective interior design elements that have an impact on the sensory performance of the learning space.