Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment

Accessible restrooms must reconcile code-based functionality with the affective expectations of disabled users. This study develops an integrated Kansei Engineering (KE)–Rough Set Theory (RST)–Support Vector Machine (SVM) workflow that converts user emotions into verifiable design guidelines. Survey...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zimo Chen, Jingwen Tian, Hongtao Zhou, Duan Wu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/9/1567
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850030774194012160
author Zimo Chen
Jingwen Tian
Hongtao Zhou
Duan Wu
author_facet Zimo Chen
Jingwen Tian
Hongtao Zhou
Duan Wu
author_sort Zimo Chen
collection DOAJ
description Accessible restrooms must reconcile code-based functionality with the affective expectations of disabled users. This study develops an integrated Kansei Engineering (KE)–Rough Set Theory (RST)–Support Vector Machine (SVM) workflow that converts user emotions into verifiable design guidelines. Surveys and semi-structured interviews with 50 disabled participants produced nine Kansei words; factor analysis extracted three principal emotional factors—tidiness, utility and care—capturing 75.8% of total variance. The morphological decomposition of 60 restroom samples yielded 41 design attributes, from which RST attribute reduction isolated six critical features. An SVR model with a radial-basis kernel, trained on 90% of the data and validated on the remaining 10%, achieved R<sup>2</sup> = 0.931 and RMSE = 0.085. The exhaustive prediction of 15,750 feasible design combinations pinpointed an optimal configuration; follow-up user testing confirmed the improvement in satisfaction (mean 5.1 on a seven-point scale). The KE–RST–SVM workflow thus offers a reproducible, data-driven path for harmonizing emotional and functional objectives in inclusive restroom design, and can be extended to other barrier-free facilities.
format Article
id doaj-art-ff3e823e36aa431da8fdf01f52e21426
institution DOAJ
issn 2075-5309
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Buildings
spelling doaj-art-ff3e823e36aa431da8fdf01f52e214262025-08-20T02:59:08ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092025-05-01159156710.3390/buildings15091567Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional AlignmentZimo Chen0Jingwen Tian1Hongtao Zhou2Duan Wu3School of Design Art and Media, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, ChinaCollege of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, ChinaCollege of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, ChinaCollege of Design and Innovation, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, ChinaAccessible restrooms must reconcile code-based functionality with the affective expectations of disabled users. This study develops an integrated Kansei Engineering (KE)–Rough Set Theory (RST)–Support Vector Machine (SVM) workflow that converts user emotions into verifiable design guidelines. Surveys and semi-structured interviews with 50 disabled participants produced nine Kansei words; factor analysis extracted three principal emotional factors—tidiness, utility and care—capturing 75.8% of total variance. The morphological decomposition of 60 restroom samples yielded 41 design attributes, from which RST attribute reduction isolated six critical features. An SVR model with a radial-basis kernel, trained on 90% of the data and validated on the remaining 10%, achieved R<sup>2</sup> = 0.931 and RMSE = 0.085. The exhaustive prediction of 15,750 feasible design combinations pinpointed an optimal configuration; follow-up user testing confirmed the improvement in satisfaction (mean 5.1 on a seven-point scale). The KE–RST–SVM workflow thus offers a reproducible, data-driven path for harmonizing emotional and functional objectives in inclusive restroom design, and can be extended to other barrier-free facilities.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/9/1567Kansei engineeringrough set theorysupport vector machineemotional-functional alignmentdata-driven
spellingShingle Zimo Chen
Jingwen Tian
Hongtao Zhou
Duan Wu
Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment
Buildings
Kansei engineering
rough set theory
support vector machine
emotional-functional alignment
data-driven
title Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment
title_full Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment
title_fullStr Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment
title_full_unstemmed Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment
title_short Toward Symmetry in Accessible Restrooms Design: Integrating KE, RST, and SVM for Optimized Emotional-Functional Alignment
title_sort toward symmetry in accessible restrooms design integrating ke rst and svm for optimized emotional functional alignment
topic Kansei engineering
rough set theory
support vector machine
emotional-functional alignment
data-driven
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/15/9/1567
work_keys_str_mv AT zimochen towardsymmetryinaccessiblerestroomsdesignintegratingkerstandsvmforoptimizedemotionalfunctionalalignment
AT jingwentian towardsymmetryinaccessiblerestroomsdesignintegratingkerstandsvmforoptimizedemotionalfunctionalalignment
AT hongtaozhou towardsymmetryinaccessiblerestroomsdesignintegratingkerstandsvmforoptimizedemotionalfunctionalalignment
AT duanwu towardsymmetryinaccessiblerestroomsdesignintegratingkerstandsvmforoptimizedemotionalfunctionalalignment