The View from the Window—Assessment by the “View Owner” and the “View Observers”

Access to an unobstructed view of the outside through a window has been shown to play a critical role in supporting occupants’ visual comfort, psychological well-being, and cognitive performance, as it provides environmental connection and reduces stress. The aim of this study was to investigate how window view assessment ratings differ between 'view owners' (individuals with long-term experience of the view) and 'view observers' (those who view photos of a view). Findings from 12 in-person workshops on window view assessment are presented. The participants were 207 students from six European universities. Each participant presented their window view as 'view owner', while the remining students rated it on the 1–9 Likert scale as 'view observers'. The ratings given by the 'view owners' (prior to workshops) were significantly higher than those given by the 'view observers', showing the influence of familiarity and long-term experience. The additional contextual information about the interior and narrative descriptions provided orally by the 'view owners' had a small positive effect. Night views were rated lower than day views by the 'view observers'. The findings highlight the impact of long-term experience on the assessment of the window view and encourage the inclusion of night-view in recommendations.