Abstract

This research had the objective to know the emotional perception of designers about the five most sold commercial woods in Chile, to establish conclusions referred to perceived quality. The study seeks to assess comparative and hierarchical preferential valuations among species and learn about relevant visual characteristics of wood with influence in user satisfaction. Usually, the eligibility criteria for aesthetic applications is focused on the designer, assigning him/her the task of making decisions to devise spatial configurations designed to meet end users requirements, who are making use of these facilities. Through this study, the designer acquires new useful information to assess emotions the living space could cause in future occupants, based on the use of wood species. The methodological foundation focuses on kansei engineering application, a discipline responsible of establishing relationships between the emotions that a given stimulus generates in human beings, in this case, the presence of wood. The study was carried out on an intentional non-probabilistic sample of experts from the design area, using survey with quantifiable options and structured questions according to semantic axes. As result, the answers obtained were referred to wood valuations and a data collection method that can be extrapolated to studies related to other types of commercial wood was generated. The specific conclusion is that dark, knotless woods are better valued emotionally by users.