Pleasurable products: Public space furniture with userfitness

In recent years, more and more designers, engineers and market researchers have recognized that designs should meet the different needs and preferences of end-users and also bring them different kinds and levels of satisfaction. By using the concept of culture as composed of spatial and temporal dimensions, this paper reviews how products - physical objects - relate to the beliefs, wants, needs and preferences of people, and also to their activities and behaviour. This paper uses public space furniture in Hong Kong as a case study, examining the ways in which people use them. It then discusses how product designers can understand the needs and preferences of people by observing their daily practices. Finally, it suggests how products should be designed to meet a high degree of userfitness and provide different pleasures for users.