Urbanie & Urbanus
Issue 2026 Aug
Empathetic and Inclusive Design
Issue 14, P. - P.
From “I Feel” to “Users Need” AI-Simulated Experience and the Construction of User Knowledge in Inclusive Architectural Design
References
- Agnew, W., Bergman, A.S., Chien, J., Díaz, M., El-Sayed, S., Pittman, J., Mohamed, S. & McKee, K.R., 2024. The illusion of artificial inclusion. Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642703.
Amin, D., Salminen, J., Jansen, B.J., Shin, J. & Kim, D.H., 2025. Generative AI personas considered harmful? Putting forth twenty challenges of algorithmic user representation in human-computer interaction. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 205, 103657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103657.
Annand, P.J., Garasto, S. & Groves, L., 2026. Public say versus public sway: ‘Lived experience literacy’ in the pursuit of participatory AI. Big Data & Society, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517261447845.
Bianchin, M. & Heylighen, A., 2018. Just design. Design Studies, 54, pp. 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2017.10.001.
Blyth, A. & Worthington, J., 2010. Managing the Brief for Better Design. 2nd ed. Abingdon: Routledge.
Chen, Z., Zhu, D. & Zheng, L.N., 2026. When synthetic users fail: A cross-domain benchmark of LLM-simulated human survey responses. arXiv:2607.26348 [preprint; under peer review].
Conklin, J. & Begeman, M.L., 1988. gIBIS: A hypertext tool for exploratory policy discussion. ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, 6(4), pp. 303-331. https://doi.org/10.1145/62266.62278.
Elisha-Wigwe, O., Brubaker, E.R. & Schauer, A., 2026. Simulated stakeholders: Using critical frameworks to examine LLM agents in early-stage design. Journal of Mechanical Design, advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4072422.
Fricker, M., 2007. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198237907.001.0001.
Goel, D., Goyal, A., Duddu, V., Pal, O., Rodriguez, V.J., Brown, D.S., Karkar, R., Yoo, D.W. & Saha, K., 2026. When AI says “I have been in similar situations”: Synthetic lived experience in peer-like caregiver support. arXiv:2606.18057v2 [preprint].
Gu, E.H., Chandrasegaran, S. & Lloyd, P., 2025. Synthetic users: Insights from designers’ interactions with persona-based chatbots. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 39, e2, pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0890060424000283.
Haxvig, H.A., D’Andrea, V. & Teli, M., 2025. “I’ve never seen a glass ceiling better represented”: Bias and gendering in LLM-generated synthetic personas from a participatory design perspective. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 205, 103651. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2025.103651.
He, J. & Yang, C., 2025. Testimony by LLMs. AI & Society, 40, pp. 6201-6213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-025-02366-y.
Heylighen, A. & Bianchin, M., 2018. Building justice: How to overcome the inclusive design paradox? Built Environment, 44(1), pp. 23-35. https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.44.1.23.
Jauhiainen, J.S., Hakanpää, S., Honkasaari, H.-P., Kivilompolo, N., Kurri, M., Lehtiranta, L. & Nurminen, M., 2026. Generative AI in participatory urban planning: Synthetic inhabitants and experts. Land, 15(3), 407. https://doi.org/10.3390/land15030407.
Kim, T., Hong, M.K., Chen, Y.-Y., Li, J.Q., Van, M.P., Hakimi, S., Kay, M. & Klenk, M., 2026. Personagram: Bridging personas and product design for creative ideation with multimodal LLMs. arXiv:2602.06197 [preprint]. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.06197.
Ozkaya, I. & Akin, Ö., 2007. Tool support for computer-aided requirement traceability in architectural design: The case of DesignTrack. Automation in Construction, 16(5), pp. 674-684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2006.11.006.
Salminen, J., Jung, S.G., Kaate, I., Xuan, T.T.T., Azem, J.Y., Aldous, K.K., Amin, D. & Jansen, B.J., 2026. AI representing personas representing user groups: Applying the agency theory to examine interaction challenges of conversational personas as decision-making tools. Decision Support Systems, 205, 114633. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2026.114633.
Seyman Güray, T. & Uyan, B., 2025. Collaboration with generative artificial intelligence in the early stages of design studio: A model proposal. Journal of Architectural Sciences and Applications, 10(1), pp. 434-450. https://doi.org/10.30785/mbud.1649820.
Truss, M., 2026. PersonaCite: VoC-grounded interviewable agentic synthetic AI personas for verifiable user and design research. Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772363.3798543.
Tvedebrink, T.D.O. & Jelić, A., 2018. Getting under the(ir) skin: Applying personas and scenarios with body-environment research for improved understanding of users’ perspective in architectural design. Persona Studies, 4(2), pp. 5-24.
Van der Linden, V., Dong, H. & Heylighen, A., 2019a. Tracing architects’ fragile knowing about users in the socio-material environment of design practice. Design Studies, 63, pp. 65-91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2019.02.004.
Van der Linden, V., Dong, H. & Heylighen, A., 2019b. Populating architectural design: Introducing scenario-based design in residential care projects. International Journal of Design, 13(1), pp. 21-36.
Verhulst, L., Elsen, C. & Heylighen, A., 2016. Whom do architects have in mind during design when users are absent? Observations from a design competition. Journal of Design Research, 14(4), pp. 368-387. https://doi.org/10.1504/JDR.2016.082032.
Wang, Z., Dai, Y., Lyu, D., Nader, M., Chen, S., Ye, W., Ding, Z. & Yan, X., 2026. StreetDesignAI: Broadening designer perspectives through multi-persona evaluation of cycling infrastructure. Proceedings of the 2026 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, pp. 483-503. https://doi.org/10.1145/3800645.3812888.
Wu, Y., Cao, S. & Ji, G., 2026. Natural language-driven architectural space cognition: An AI-agent-based intelligent recommendation system for residential floor plans. Proceedings of the 31st International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA), 1, pp. 93-102.
Zahedi, A., Abualdenien, J., Petzold, F. & Borrmann, A., 2022. BIM-based design decisions documentation using design episodes, explanation tags, and constraints. Journal of Information Technology in Construction, 27, pp. 756-780. https://doi.org/10.36680/j.itcon.2022.037.
