Implications of user-controlled architectural design on spatial experience in virtual reality workspaces

Purpose This study aims to explore how spatial design personalization influences users’ emotional, cognitive and functional experiences in immersive virtual reality workspaces (VRWSs), addressing the lack of understanding about how user-driven spatial design in VRWSs shapes workspace satisfaction and perceived productivity. Design/methodology/approach Seventy-three participants performed work tasks in a prototype of a VRWS for personalization in two conditions, baseline and personalized, and participated in semistructured narrative interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to uncover mechanisms of personalization, supported by iterative code refinement with coauthors. Findings Participants reported enhanced emotional comfort, autonomy and engagement under personalization, while baseline environments were perceived to support concentration through visual minimalism. Users tended to strongly prefer large-scale environmental personalization such as background scenery. The findings reveal a dual-path pattern in which baseline and personalized environments influence experience through distinct emotional and cognitive routes. Practical implications Designers may prioritize high-impact spatial design personalization options and support adaptive workspace layouts, while minimizing usability barriers that restrict customization. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides one of the first large-scale qualitative analyses of VRWS personalization and introduces a novel dual-path pattern explaining how different spatial designs shape user experience through emotional and cognitive mechanisms.