Applying the DQI-based kano model and QFD to develop design strategies for visitor centers in national parks

China in recent years has been actively promoting the policy of establishing national parks to preserve nature systems. Visitor center (VC) is one of the most important infrastructures for protection, education, and recreation purposes in national parks. However, the current design of VCs in China is mostly based on the subjective considerations of designers and lacks in-depth discussion on the requirements of visitors. This study employed the Kano Two-Dimensional Quality method to investigate the design requirements of visitors and experts and then applied the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method to transform the requirements into design strategies. Based on these design strategies, the design of VC in a national park in southeast China was taken as an example, and two design teams were used to verify the architectural scheme design and obtain feedback from visitors through a questionnaire survey. The research results show that the design strategies proposed by this study can better meet the expectations and satisfaction of the public. In the future, it is suggested that more parties, such as national park managers and community residents, should be involved in the study to obtain better planning and design strategies.