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Purpose
Personalization and the non‐territorial office seem to be contradicting concepts. It is generally accepted that it is not possible to personalize workplaces in environments where no fixed individual workplaces are allocated. However, people seem to have a human need of personalization. Personalization can be done in different ways and for d...
Citations
... Permitting employees to distinguish their workspaces from others by using personal or work-related items would add character, enhance their psychological well-being and serve as a temperament enhancer and stress reducer (De Been and Beijer, 2014). This results in satisfying their human needs, which reflects positively on their workplace productivity (Brunia and Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009). ...
... This consideration was rated the second most important by both the A/Es and workplace users, with a RII value of 71.7%. The authors of this study agree with this assessment, as documented in other previous studies (Cowan and Smith, 2004;Brunia and Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009;Appel-Meulenbroek et al., 2011), since efficiently occupied spaces would significantly support the professional accommodation of employees at the workplace, in addition to improving their morale and performance. Facilities managers also perceived "Suitable workstation location relative to the equipment" to be the second most important consideration in this group, with a RII value of 65.8%, corresponding to a rating of "Very Important". ...
Purpose
This paper aims to review and assess the sustainable design and management considerations affecting workplaces’ productivity in Saudi Arabia.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a mixed approach, commencing with literature review, development and pilot-testing of a structured questionnaire instrument to assess design and management considerations towards productively sustainable workplaces (PSWs). In total, 31 considerations affecting sustainable workplaces’ productivity were identified and clustered under five main directions. A collective group of stakeholders, including architects/engineers (A/E), workplace users and facilities managers, were approached to correlate and compare their individual assessment of the identified PSWs. The relative importance index (RII) for each of the PSW considerations is correlated and discussed.
Findings
A high level of agreement is recognized among the three stakeholder groups for PSWs considerations’ assessed rankings. The provision of sufficient ventilation and illumination levels, availability of occupational health, security and safety, availability of ergonomically oriented technological infrastructure, availability of formal and informal meeting spaces, efficient space utilization and ergonomic workstations are all ranked highest in importance as design considerations towards PSWs.
Originality/value
The study stems from the need to understand how the PSWs’ design and management considerations are perceived by all streams of stakeholders. The findings identify the considerations’ importance for prioritization on PSWs’ investments.
... Personalization as a form of identity is used to differentiate oneself from others and to mark work-related and personal issues. This can include someone's status (group), boundaries, satisfaction, job performance, interests, and life outside of work [35]. Personalization is also related to organizational issues, such as employee status, workspace quality, and policies [30]. ...
The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into interior design education is a growing trend. This study presents a warm-up assignment where students used AI design tools to develop a concept of contemporary office designs inspired by characters from the TV series "Avrupa Yakası." The goal was to prepare students for an office design project while introducing them to AI applications. The AI-generated designs reflected character personalities and aesthetic preferences. Findings show the AI's capability to translate textual cues into visual designs, but limitations arise due to insufficient definitions in the AI's memory. The study highlights AI's potential for assisting in design inspiration but also emphasizes the need for continuous AI database development. This initiative contributes to understanding AI's role in design education and its evolving impact on creative processes.
... Google, Facebook and Apple have received extensive media attention as exemplars of PWE redesign, prompting many other companies to jump on this bandwagon to remain competitive and innovative (Thoring et al., 2018). However, according to Stegmeier (2008), attempts to implement creative workplace concepts often fail because of employee resistance, as management focuses on costs and productivity while employees experience loss and grief (Brunia & Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009). Moreover, little is currently known about companies' goals when pursuing these initiatives or the perceived effects after implementation (De Paoli & Ropo, 2017;Inalhan, 2009). ...
... Given that the workplace is a company's second-most expensive resource (McCoy, 2005;Steiner, 2005) and that more than half of all employees work outside the office (Steiner, 2005;Van der Voordt, 2004a), it makes sense to reduce workplace capacity as a means of improving company financial performance. From an employee perspective, however, this approach is counterintuitive (e.g. a lack of personalisation, a lack of feeling of control over the environment and identity threat) (Brunia & Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009), and companies need to ensure that work processes are properly supported to facilitate individual and decentralised ways of working (Steiner, 2005). ...
Providing adequate workspaces for employees is now considered crucial for organisational innovativeness in light of evidence that the work environment influences creative behaviour. It is unsurprising, then, that companies increasingly seek to implement modern workspace designs based on what is often referred to as New Work to support employee creativity. However, designing, planning, and implementing a modern and creative workspace is a highly complex undertaking. Existing studies report a multiplicity of interconnected organisational variables affected by such changes at the levels of the individual employee (e.g. creativity), the team (e.g. communication) and the organisation (e.g. culture). To explore whether and how organisational changemakers consider these variables when designing creative workspaces, we interviewed 20 experts from companies that have recently implemented creative workspace designs, asking them about the objectives and consequences of their new workspace designs. Upon comparing the interviewees’ answers to the findings reported in the existing literature, we found that their organisations were not fully aware of the organisational impact of such changes and failed to consider creativity enhancement as an explicit goal. Concluding that much of the potential of modern workspace design remains untapped, we propose avenues for further research.
... People value a workplace that provides a balance between open spaces to work as a team and encourages communication, with individual spaces to focus on work. They also value flexibility and non-static spaces to meet varying needs, as well as an option to customize or personalize, which allows the user to have an identity, positively affecting their psychological well-being [2,16]. ...
Office-based environmental control systems are centralized and designed to control entire spaces, ignoring use dynamics and requirements, and despite being regulated by standardized comfort models, they fail to satisfy real occupants, mainly due to their varied individual characteristics. This research is field-based with a quantitative approach and correlational design. Its objective is to empirically demonstrate that open-plan design, where different users share the same space and generalized environmental conditions, lacks a holistic view of IEQ criteria and the integration of other factors that affect health and well-being. Four buildings are chosen in different Chilean cities, measuring temperatures and CO2 levels at different desks, and applying a survey, which was designed as part of the research to analyze the estimation of relationships between variables and to reveal the factors that cause differences among occupants. The results show that people’s satisfaction is multivariable and depends on other factors that positively or negatively stimulate their sensations and perceptions, such as, for example, the option to personally control their environmental conditions. Likewise, it is evident that to achieve comfort, health is being affected while in the building.
... In addition, users were allowed to personalize their work environment, which helped to increase their satisfaction and improved their experience of a shared workspace. Personalization of workspace has been shown beneficial in several studies and the literature emphasizes the importance of personalized design concepts for the so called non-territorial offices or shared office space [9,29]. In such contexts, both VR and AR have the capability to allow users to design and decorate their virtual office space according to their preferences. ...
Virtual Reality (VR) provides new possibilities for modern knowledge work. However, the potential advantages of virtual work environments can only be used if it is feasible to work in them for an extended period of time. Until now, there are limited studies of long-term effects when working in VR. This paper addresses the need for understanding such long-term effects. Specifically, we report on a comparative study (
n
= 16), in which participants were working in VR for an entire week—for five days, eight hours each day—as well as in a baseline physical desktop environment. This study aims to quantify the effects of exchanging a desktop-based work environment with a VR-based environment. Hence, during this study, we do not present the participants with the best possible VR system but rather a setup delivering a comparable experience to working in the physical desktop environment. The study reveals that, as expected, VR results in significantly worse ratings across most measures. Among other results, we found concerning levels of simulator sickness, below average usability ratings and two participants dropped out on the first day using VR, due to migraine, nausea and anxiety. Nevertheless, there is some indication that participants gradually overcame negative first impressions and initial discomfort. Overall, this study helps lay the groundwork for subsequent research, by clearly highlighting current shortcomings and identifying opportunities for improving the experience of working in VR.
... Workspace personalization is another way of giving meaning to an environment by adding visual cues (Brunia and Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009). There is ample evidence that a sense of ownership resulting from workspace personalization can positively influence employee wellbeing, attitudes, and relationships (Brown et al., 2005;O'Driscoll et al., 2006;Pierce et al., 2001;Wells, 2000). ...
... The impossibility of personalizing workspaces was another disadvantage of activity-based office design that led to feelings of anonymity. Studies have shown that personalization is one way of ascribing meaning to space (Brunia and Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009), and the perceived inability to personalize workspaces in activity-based offices can hinder identity developments within organizations (Ashkanasy et al., 2014). Personalization at the individual level, however, may become less important as the acceptance of activity-based offices may increase due to hybrid work practices and less time spent in offices. ...
This thesis explores the interrelations between the design characteristics of activity-based offices, users’ perceptions of them, and users’ sense of coherence. The goal is twofold: (i) contribute to conceptualizations of healthy activity-based offices and (ii) facilitate practical use of the sense of coherence theory for office designers. Most research into healthy offices has focused on harm-causing factors (pathogenic aspects) while overlooking the health-promoting design characteristics in activity-based offices (salutogenic aspects). This thesis is a response to the call for a paradigm shift and explores the particular design characteristics of activity-based offices that promote health, drawing on the salutogenic approach and sense of coherence theory.
The thesis builds on a literature review and two mixed methods case studies on activity-based offices. Drawing on the sense of coherence framework, three types of design characteristics were identified: (i) those that promote a clear understanding of office environments, (ii) those that enhance users' access to relevant resources, and (iii) those that evoke meaning for users to cope with stressors. These characteristics and the perceptions of them are interrelated meaning that they can have multiple impacts on users’ sense of coherence. The findings also highlighted temporal changes in users’ perceptions, indicating that novelties of the new office wore off and the initial problems observed in the office environment worsened. Moreover, activity-based offices were not always perceived as intended because of suboptimal design solutions and contextual factors.
In conclusion, there are no definitive answers to how to design healthy activity-based offices. Activity-based offices are complex environments and consist of many interacting aspects including the design characteristics, individuals’, and their work-related prerequisite as well as organization-related factors that influence users’ perceptions and their sense of coherence. The framework developed in this thesis may contribute to better-informed discussions about designing for sense of coherence.
The thesis suggests that healthy activity-based offices should be viewed as a "moving project" that develops over time through experimentation and adaptation, with management’s involvement. Thus, a healthy activity-based office provides users resources and opportunities to codesign an environment that enables them (i) build meaningful social relationships, (ii) manage visual and acoustic distractions, (iii) read and understand workspaces, and (iv) receive support from management in their daily work.
... In addition, users were allowed to personalize their work environment, which helped to increase their satisfaction and improved their experience of a shared workspace. Personalization of workspace has been shown beneficial in several studies and the literature emphasizes the importance of personalized design concepts for the so called non-territorial offices or shared office space [9,29]. In such contexts, both VR and AR have the capability to allow users to design and decorate their virtual office space according to their preferences. ...
Virtual Reality (VR) provides new possibilities for modern knowledge work. However, the potential advantages of virtual work environments can only be used if it is feasible to work in them for an extended period of time. Until now, there are limited studies of long-term effects when working in VR. This paper addresses the need for understanding such long-term effects. Specifically, we report on a comparative study (n=16), in which participants were working in VR for an entire week -- for five days, eight hours each day -- as well as in a baseline physical desktop environment. This study aims to quantify the effects of exchanging a desktop-based work environment with a VR-based environment. Hence, during this study, we do not present the participants with the best possible VR system but rather a setup delivering a comparable experience to working in the physical desktop environment. The study reveals that, as expected, VR results in significantly worse ratings across most measures. Among other results, we found concerning levels of simulator sickness, below average usability ratings and two participants dropped out on the first day using VR, due to migraine, nausea and anxiety. Nevertheless, there is some indication that participants gradually overcame negative first impressions and initial discomfort. Overall, this study helps lay the groundwork for subsequent research, by clearly highlighting current shortcomings and identifying opportunities for improving the experience of working in VR.
... Over time, organisations adopt various office concepts to improve workplaces and user experiences. However, users can have different experiences and expectations when habituating a new office concept or design (Tuzcuoglu et al., 2020;Brunia and Hartjes-Gosselink 2009). Thus, it would be significant to understand user experiences to improve the concept and design better workplaces. ...
... Thus, it would be significant to understand user experiences to improve the concept and design better workplaces. For instance, Brunia and Hartjes-Gosselink (2009) showed that users sought ways to make their new workplace familiar and comfortable to fulfil their personalisation needs when they moved into a flexible office concept from a closed office environment. On the other hand, one recent study showed a low need for personalising in the traditional way in a flexible office environment by conducting an intervention for personalisation needs, i.e. electronic picture frame (Köhler, 2019). ...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the meaning of smart office environments from a user perspective by investigating user preferences and expectations.
Design/methodology/approach
Eleven semi-structured interviews with the users after moving into a smart office building of a Dutch Municipality and an observation as complementary data were conducted. The data were analysed based on the grounded theory and thematic analysis, combining a reflexive approach to the literature review.
Findings
Two main themes were revealed addressing user expectations and preferences for smart office environments: “enhanced interaction” with the social and physical office environment and “sense-making” of the smart concept (or smartness). Within these themes, basic and smart office aspects were identified and classified based on their association with smart office concepts or technology.
Practical implications
The findings reveal the meaning of the smart office concepts from a user perspective by highlighting the importance of user experience on enhanced interaction and sense-making of the smart office concept, equipped with basic and smart aspects.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to qualitatively examine drivers underlying the meaning of smart office concepts from a user point of view. Organisations, environmental psychologists, designers and managers can use the findings of this study to develop guidelines for a successful smart office design.
... While employees were discouraged from adding personal items to the environment to assert meaning, some found the rules ambiguous (comprehensibility). Nevertheless, personalization of space is used as a means of making sense of the environment and giving meaning to the workspace [43,44]. ...
This study investigated the current design circumstances of an office as well as employees’ perceptions of the office environment in relation to their perceived health, drawing on sense of coherence theory (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness). Previous studies have related the physical office environment to employee health. However, most studies have focused on alleviating negative effects, while health-promoting potential, including employee sense of coherence, has been overlooked. This study adopted a mixed method case study approach, combining semi-structured interviews with employees, structured observations, and analysis of architectural drawings. The results indicated that employees’ perceptions did not always align with the ideas behind the architectural design and that employees understood the environment differently. The study also highlighted the interrelations (and contradictions) among the different components of sense of coherence. The findings imply that organizations may need to prioritize which components of coherence should be supported most by the office environment. It also suggests that case-specific design aspects should play a more central role in studying and conceptualizing healthy office design and that design solutions should be continuously modified during the use phase, while ensuring employees’ participation. The study concluded that an ‘ideal’ office environment should not be the goal. Instead, office design should provide an environment in which employees are able to cope with challenges in comprehensible, manageable and meaningful ways.
... Personalization behaviour is a s contributor to workplace well-being, particularly for women (Wells, 2000). Interview data confirmed that behaviour is at least partially motivated by the desire to give a sense of meaning to the workplace (Brunia & Hartjes-Gosselink, 2009). ...
The last decades show a growing interest in the impact of buildings, facilities and services on health and wellbeing. This paper aims to present different design concepts that have been developed to support health and wellbeing of the end users, such as healing environments and healthy offices, or to avoid negative impacts, such as the Sick Building Syndrome and toxic workplaces. Each concept is supported by a selection of references to available evidence of its influence. The paper is based on an extensive narrative literature review of buildings and facilities related publications on how to provide healthy environments, with a focus on offices and health care facilities. The discussed design concepts have much in common, but also different focus points, Overall it is shown that a variety of building design characteristics-spatial layout, indoor climate, interior design, finishing, contact with nature-affect the health and wellbeing of building users. Facilities such as desk bikes and plants and services such as healthy food and drinks or healthy behaviour stimulating programs have a positive impact as well. As a consequence, the design and management of healthy environments needs a multidisciplinary approach and collaboration between designers, corporate real estate and facility managers, human resource managers, IT specialists, and the involvement of different stakeholder such as clients and end users.
