Office UX
How We Work Should Influence Where We Work
User Experience Design has come to the fore, as well it should. Rather than companies producing things and then convincing people how great their products are, ideas are now developed, tested, improved, and released. In this sense, the user is put first.
In his 1988 book “The Design of Everyday Things” Donald Norman focused on user-centered design with regard to affordances. One example he cites is human interaction with doors. When we see an articulated flat surface, we know to push. When we see some variation of a bar or handle, we know to pull. These designs allow us to intuitively perceive their uses and therefore they afford us the opportunity of utility. As a result, the aesthetics of design are secondary to optimizing the pleasure experienced with use. That is the first phase of design; it is the practical and the functional aspect. It expounds upon the oft quoted tenant of famed architect Louis Sullivan — Form follows function.
This concept is then translated from the realm of physical design to the digital with regard to content. As Jeffrey Zeldman states, “Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it is decoration.” We now see UX designers bringing tangible value to the design process. We can track the impact of design on a product by way of improved performance, broader use, and satisfied customers. Design is no longer ignored until the end of development and then tasked with making something look pretty.
Designers of the physical world should follow UX’s lead. There are innumerable ways in which architects, interior designers, and space planners enhance our daily experiences. However, tracking the results of their work is not viewed as integral to what they do. Rarely are post occupancy evaluations conducted or metrics compiled in order to verify the success of design decisions implemented to enhance productivity. Architects would find their firms booming if they could directly correlate increased productivity and higher profits for clients to their design decisions in relation to key office issues such as public vs private, collaborative vs focused, etc.
If a company is about to spend millions of dollars on new interior design and new furniture, perhaps it would be in its best interests to be just as iterative with the working environment as it is with its content and products. A company that is not interested in the aesthetics of its office nor the variety of settings provided for employees to get work done is a company that clearly is not concerned with the perception people have when they enter the building nor the ability for employees to be efficient and effective.
Companies need to follow a UX design process and let that process be influenced by the tremendous amount of workplace research that has been conducted by experts in the field. There has been some great research done by Steelcase which has identified 5 key trends that are informing the design of all offices.
So, let’s borrow the UX design approach from the world of apps and websites and apply it to the creation of physical space.
Strategy — What do you need from your space? How do you as a company get your best work done?
Research — What options are out there in terms of innovative space design and creative new products? Also, observe your own company and ask the right questions. How big are our meetings? Do people use phone rooms? Is there a lot of collaboration in available shared spaces?
Analysis — What do our findings tell us? How do different departments work? How can we best solve for the variety of needs that are present?
Design — Find an architect who understands your vision and develop a plan that utilizes your building in the best way possible. Then bring in a furniture vendor as a part of the team in order to work through every aspect of the physical artifacts in your space, from workstations to storage to AV displays to modular walls with embedded technology.
Beta Test — Before you start a big move or a large scale redesign, make an investment in a pilot space. Create a small neighborhood of workstations, lounges, and meeting rooms. Invite different teams to live in it for a week at a time on a rotating basis. Find out what they like and what they would change. Observe what is successful and what is not.
Evaluate — Based on these multiple stages of investigation and iteration, design solutions that are unique to your needs.
Launch — Move in to the new space, set up shop, and enjoy the highly functioning, intuitive office that you have created. But recognize that the process never ends and further iteration will always be present.
If the goal of your company’s design is to put the user first, it only makes sense to approach the design challenges presented by the physical space you inhabit with the same passion and fervor as your own products. Throughout the process, focus on the affordances and through diligent investigation, uncover how to make your space as intuitive as possible. In this instance, a company is its own client, and that client deserves ample investment.
