Abstract
Currently in Korea, Researches on universal design have been actively accomplished in various fields as not only housing and public space, but also product design and education. The purpose of this study is to analyze previous researches on universal design and to identify its research trends which might suggest the future directions of the related studies. In this study, researches on universal design were analyzed to classify the types according to research area, objects and respondents. Two hundreds twenty one papers(journal articles, theses, dissertations, etc.) which were published in Korea from 1997 to 2008 were analyzed. The results were as follows. Researches on universal design have increased quantitatively and research topics have been diverse. In the 1990s, with the introduction of universal design concept, research area focused on space design, but since 2000 researches on universal design have been expanded to apply the fashion, product design and education. In terms of research objects, the studies about evaluation and case analysis have conducted more than those about principles and planning design. With regard to research respondent, the studies for the elderly or people with disabilities and those of all people including a specific target have conducted in a similar ratio. Previous studies were contributed to expand the topics of universal design and it is time to study the applications based on previous research results for utilization and dissemination of universal design. Also it is necessary to conduct interdisciplinary studies in the field of universal design.