Türkiye'deki Yükseköğrenim Öğrenci Yurtlarında Kullanıcı Deneyiminin Kullanılabilirlik Bağlamında Analizi

Abstract

Dormitories are significant living spaces for the academic development and social lives of university students. The continuous increase in the number of university students in Türkiye perpetuates the need to improve the usability of both existing and newly planned dormitory spaces. Usability is a concept that describes user–environment interaction in the evaluation of the quality of a built environment. The feedback given by the user after experiencing the layers of a space is an evaluation of the usability of the space. This feedback is important for improving the usability of student dormitories. With sufficient feedback, the user experience in student dormitories can be designed to meet user expectations and needs. The aim of this study was to conduct an analysis exploring the user experience in higher education student dormitories in Türkiye and to identify the relationships that should be considered in improving the usability of these dormitories. Usability was examined as a criterion for evaluating user–space interaction in the dormitories. A review was conducted of the literature on usability and student dormitories. The review indicated that the control mechanisms created in the spaces regulate usability by creating certain layers where the uses in these layers are influenced by external factors, apart from the objective and subjective characteristics of the space. It was concluded that the subjective and objective factors of a space are organized depending on the relation between layer and activity in the space under the influence of external factors. In the line with this conclusion, revealed relationships were taken into consideration for the analysis study. The increasing interaction of young people with the internet environment has led to online platforms that can be observed and studied. In this study, the content shared by users on YouTube was examined using qualitative content analysis. In the analysis, findings related to objective, subjective, and external factors recorded as usability rates and the change relations of dormitory type, space layers, and user services are discussed. The results obtained are observed in terms of external, subjective, and objective features and subcategories depending on dormitory type, space layers, and activities. The generalizability of the results is limited, as the study was conducted with an online platform associated with a specific subculture. However, it is expected to contribute to the enhancement of space usability in higher education student dormitories in Türkiye by revealing the fundamental and current user–environment relationships that shape user experiences.