Interactive room design as a tool for understanding form and style preferences

TL;DR

This study uses an interactive 3D web app to explore how people choose furniture styles and shapes, revealing a small preference for angular furniture among men.

Contribution

The study introduces an interactive 3D environment for exploring interior design preferences, revealing new insights into form preferences not seen in prior controlled studies.

Findings

Participants showed a small but significant overall preference for angular furniture.

Male participants preferred angular furniture, while female participants showed no form preference.

No significant association was found between design preferences and personality traits.

Abstract

Given the substantial time people spend indoors, it is crucial to understand how aesthetic decisions in interior design are made, both to inform psychological research and guide practical applications. Recent studies show growing interest in form preferences, often suggesting a general preference for curved over angular shapes. Unlike previous research using predefined stimuli, our study allowed individuals to freely express their preferences in a living room through an interactive 3d web application. In an online experiment, participants (N = 196) furnished a virtual living room according to their personal preferences, using a controlled set of furniture items that varied systematically in form (angular vs. curved) and style (modern vs. classic). Contrary to prior findings, we observed a small but significant overall preference for angular furniture. This effect was mainly driven by male participants, who selected more angular than curved items, while female participants showed no form preference. We found no general preference in terms of style. Additionally, we explored associations between design preferences and personality traits (BFI-2), but no significant relationships emerged. Overall, this study demonstrates the value of interactive 3d environments for investigating aesthetic preferences in a controlled yet flexible setting, allowing personalised design decisions beyond predefined conditions.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-23543-5.

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