A Competitive Study on the Interior Environment and the Interior Circulation Design of Malaysian Museums and Elderly Satisfaction

Abstract

The study explains how the interior environment, the circulation design quality, and visitors’ satisfaction are related in the context of interior environment and design of museums in Malaysia. The research intends to examine the interior circulation design that interacts with the interior environment and space planning in museums. This is to understand the relationship between the elderly visitors’ satisfaction and the interior circulation design. This paper plans to answer critical questions about the definition of the interior circulation design, and how the interior circulation design can relate to the elderly visitors’ satisfaction in museums. Also to explore the relationship between elderly visitors’ expectation, design quality and elderly satisfaction. This study is one of the few studies focus on elderly people within museums. The empirical analysis carried out on 509 of elderly visitors in 21 museums in Peninsular Malaysia allows us to confirm that the quality of interior circulation design and interior environment is a direct determinant of elderly satisfaction in museums. The results also reveal that there is a significant relationship between satisfaction and pre-expectation of interior environment. Finally, the interior environment elements of museums such as lighting design, furniture arrangement and finishes materials are also studied.