A new ANFA x DIALOG series exploring how neuroscience and architecture come together to help us design buildings that better support human wellbeing and experience.
Measuring Human Experience in Architecture
Measuring Human Experience in Architecture
Evidence-Based Insights from Post-Occupancy Evaluation
Explore how human experience can be measured in real environments—and how those insights can inform design decisions, user outcomes, and long-term asset value.
4-Day Workshop
June 1-4, 2026
DIALOG Calgary Studio
No prior research experience required.
How do we know if the spaces we inhabit truly support human experience?
Over 4 immersive days in Calgary, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) and DIALOG offer a rare opportunity to take part in a collaborative, real-world workshop exploring how aspects of human experience can be studied, interpreted, and applied across the built environment.
Engage with current neuroscience and environmental psychology research to better understand how people experience and respond to space – and how these insights can inform design decisions, user experience outcomes, and long-term asset value.
Why this matters?
For decades, architecture and design have relied largely on intuition, precedent, and aesthetic judgment to shape the environments where we live, work, heal, and learn – with limited ways to understand how these decisions translate into real-world human experience.
Today, advances in scientific tools and interdisciplinary research are making it possible to more directly study how people experience space. These insights are beginning to inform design decisions – supporting human wellbeing and performance while enabling more confident investment and planning decisions.
This shift in evaluating is giving rise to a new approach: data-informed, human-centered design.
The Workshop: Measuring Human Experience in Architecture
Bringing together interdisciplinary experts across cognitive science, environmental neuroscience and psychology, and architecture and design, this workshop is designed to equip you with a deeper understanding of this emerging approach and how it can be applied in practice.
Rather than simply learning about research methods, you will engage with them directly in real environments — gaining new ways to understand how people respond to space and how those insights can inform decisions.
Over four immersive days:
- Engage with current research from around the world
- Experience hands-on methods for assessing human response to space
- Learn how these responses can be translated into meaningful, actionable insights
- Participate in a real-world data collection exercises studying occupied environments
This workshop brings together research, design, and real-world environments in a single, hands-on setting, reflecting a broader shift toward integrating scientific insight into how we design, evaluate, and invest in the built environment.
Designed for professionals across design, real estate, research, and public sector fields — no prior experience with research methods is required.
This workshop is supported by scientific guidance from the Center for Environmental Neuroscience (CEN) at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.
Note: Some workshop exercises involve structured data collection that may contribute to research initiatives and potential publications. Participation in any data collection is entirely voluntary, and choosing not to contribute data does not affect participation in the workshop or any of its components.
Meet your instructors
Led by an interdisciplinary team of instructors, with contributions from leading researchers and guest speakers.
Robin Mazumder
Environmental Neuroscientist / Postdoctoral Fellow, Future Cities Institute, University of Waterloo
Explores how urban design shapes individual and societal wellbeing, combining research, public advocacy, and science communication.
David Kirsh
Cognitive Scientist, University of California San Diego / ANFA
David studies how people think, act, and make decisions in complex environments, and how that understanding can inform design.
Nour Tawil
Architect / Scientist, Center for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Connects research and methods from environmental psychology and neuroscience to real-world design. Co-leading the ANFA x DIALOG workshop series
Julia del Río
Architect / PhD candidate / ANFA Advisory Council
Shares how evidence-based insights are being integrated into design practice. Co-leading the ANFA x DIALOG workshop series.
Susan Carter
Designer / Partner at DIALOG, Doctor of Design (Candidate)
Connects science to practice in the design of large-scale mixed-use developments. Co-leading the ANFA x DIALOG workshop series.
What Participants Are Saying
Feedback from our recent session on Why Human Experience Metrics Matter
“David Kirsh did a wonderful job myth-busting and reshaping my understanding of how our brains react to spaces.”
“I really enjoyed the insights based on scientific study and experimentation.”
“A group of experts from different disciplines brought a wealth of knowledge and visible passion.”
Perspectives from Practice
Hear how leaders in design and real estate are thinking about human experience in the built environment — and why it matters in practice.
Design Perspective
Measuring Human Experience in Design
Susan Carter, DIALOG
Susan reflects on how combining intuition with measurement can bring greater focus, clarity, and evidence to design decisions.
Real Estate Perspetive
Human Experience and Real Estate Value
Russell Whitehead, CBRE
Russell discusses how human experience influences demand, tenant performance, and long-term asset value in development and planning.
The workshop combines short lectures, learning and thinking sessions, and real-world data collection and interpretation exercises. By the end of the workshop, you will have witnessed and reflected on a full cycle of investigation — from collecting human-experience data and framing research questions, to interpreting insights and how they could inform design decisions. Learn how psychological tools can be applied to architectural and urban contexts. Explore the strengths and limitations of surveys, observations, and implicit psychological tasks.
By the end of the workshop, participants will:
- Hands-on experience with science-informed tools
- Understand how explicit and implicit assessment methods reveal different dimensions of human experience in real-world case studies
- Introduction to approaches for integrating human experience insights into practice
- New interdisciplinary connections and collaboration opportunities
- Practical insights you can apply to real projects, research, and decision-making
This workshop is designed for professionals involved in shaping, evaluating, and decision-making around the built environment, including:
- Architects, urban designers, and planners seeking to integrate human-centered and evidence-informed approaches into practice.
- Developers, real estate professionals, and workplace strategists interested in understanding how design impacts user experience, wellbeing, and performance.
- Healthcare planners and operators looking to evaluate and improve patient and staff experience through spatial design.
- Public sector leaders and municipal decision-makers involved in planning, policy, and city-making.
- Environmental psychologists, behavioral scientists, and researcher working at the intersection of people and space.
- Students and early-career professionals in architecture, design, psychology, or related fields.
No prior experience with research methods is required.
What this means in practice for different roles:
For architects, designers, planners
Make stronger design decisions with evidence-informed insights—understanding how spatial variables relate to measurable human responses and how to integrate these into practice.
For developers, asset owners, and property managers
Make more informed investment decisions by understanding how human experience can be measured and linked to user outcomes and long-term value.
For workplace, wellbeing, and experience professionals
Better understand how environments influence behaviour, comfort, and experience—and how these impacts can inform workplace strategy.
For healthcare and institutional leaders
See how environments shape stress, restoration, and perception—gaining insights that can inform patient, staff, and public experience.
For researchers and graduate students
Understand how methods translate to real-world settings, with insight into applied research opportunities and practical constraints.
Agenda
- Introduction to the workshop goals, structure, and participants
- Why measuring human experience matters in architecture (Julia)
- Keynote on applying cognitive science and psychology to design (Robin Mazumder, David Kirsh)
- Introduction to the Community Wellbeing Framework (CWF) (Antonio)
- Overview of implicit psychological testing methods (Nour)
- Experience Economy design perspectives (Susan)
- Group formation and preparation for fieldwork
Morning
- Implicit psychological testing related to real environments
- Explicit on-site assessments using CWF and tailored questionnaires
Afternoon
- Networking and informal exchange
Morning
- Second round of implicit testing in alternate case studies
- Second round of explicit on-site assessments in alternate case studies
Afternoon
- Design-thinking micro-sessions
- Collaborative mapping of design metrics
- Guided experiential tour of the Calgary Public Library
- Final group exercise
- Data integration and interpretation of explicit vs. implicit methods findings
- Group discussions and reflections
- Closing session and future collaboration opportunities
Registration & Pricing
This is a rare opportunity to engage directly with leading researchers and methods in real environments.
If cost is a barrier to your participation, please contact the organizers – we want this conversation to be accessible.
300, 134-11 Ave SE
Calgary, AB T2G 0X5
Canada
Frequently Asked Questions
Professionals shaping and evaluating the built environment, including architects, designers, planners, developers, real estate and workplace professionals, healthcare and public sector leaders, and researchers. Students and early-career professionals are also welcome. No prior experience with research methods is required.
No. The workshop is designed to be accessible while still rigorous, with guidance from experts throughout.
You will gain hands-on experience with psychological research methods and structured wellbeing frameworks in real spaces, experiencing the methods firsthand as participants, not just observing them. The workshop focuses on applying research methods to generate practical insights for design and evaluation.
You’ll engage with a range of real, occupied environments, including healthcare, urban, and public spaces, allowing you to compare how different settings shape human experience and response.
POE is one component, but the focus is broader. The workshop explores how human experience can be studied using multiple lenses – emotional, behavioural, and perceptual – and how these insights can inform design, research, and decision-making.
Implicit methods measure less conscious responses to environments – capturing aspects of human responses that people may find difficult to articulate through explicit methods such as surveys or interviews.
Yes. You will contribute to and receive:
- A synthesis report
- Frameworks for integrating human-experience metrics into practice
- Workshop materials, tools, and readings
Unlike conferences focused on presentations, this workshop emphasizes hands-on experimentation, collaboration, and application. Participants actively engage with methods, contribute inputs, and explore findings together.
Some workshop exercises involve structured data collection that may contribute to research and potential publications. Participation in related data collection is entirely voluntary and not required to take part in the workshop or any of its components. You may fully participate in all activities without contributing any data.
The workshop is limited to approximately 50 participants, working in smaller working groups to ensure depth of engagement.
Yes. Structured and informal networking sessions are integrated throughout the workshop, fostering long-term interdisciplinary connections.
Got questions? Feel free to reach out.
Join an interdisciplinary group exploring how human experience can be studied and applied across the built environment.
Our Partners and Advisors
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