A psychophysical experiment was conducted to evaluate the interior des
ign alternatives of a highspeed train. Preference of each. design alte
rnative was quantitatively measured by using the magnitude estimation
technique. Subsequent analyses showed that (1) passenger seats should
be able to be arranged in the moving direction of a train, (2) a varie
ty of interior convenience facilities, especially, an audio facility,
should be provided to enhance passenger comfort and (3) the design req
uirements suggested by young passengers could improve the overall pref
erence level. In addition, guidelines for collecting, standardizing, a
nd analyzing the data are suggested when the magnitude estimation tech
nique is used. The use of psychophysical data is expected to be very u
seful when it is necessary to make engineering decisions based on quan
titative preference data. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re
served.