People prefer to have windows in many spaces. However, there are spaces such as the interior of large buildings where it is not possible to have windows. In some of these situations, people could have `inside windows," that is, windows to another inside space rather than to the outside. Two studies investigated the desirability of inside windows. In the first study, 35 full-time secretaries and 205 students completed a questionnaire about both the desirability of inside windows in a number of situations and the effects of inside windows. Results indicated that inside windows were generally desirable. Secretaries rated inside windows as slightly less desirable than did students. Judgments concerning the effects of inside windows suggested that secretaries may have lower preferences because they tend to focus on the negative effects of inside windows relative to students. There were two settings for which secretaries and students were similar: the office and the library. In the second study, preferred sizes of inside windows were obtained using a model of an office. The 36 subjects indicated that inside windows were generally preferred, but were smaller than conventional windows for comparable spaces. The desire for inside windows, and their size, was greater if the space being viewed had a conventional window.
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