Scaling the offices from design
The offices of today are more than just a workplace: they are tools that empower their users, and help to reinforce the culture and values of a company.
Fortunately, former offices with drab cubicles designated only with production in mind are a thing of the past. The offices of today are more than just a workplace: they are tools that empower their users, and help to reinforce the culture and values of a company.
In the beginning, the Auth0 “office” was no more than a house propelled by passion and technology, where co-workers shared working hours and the same aim. Nowadays this house has been expanded and transformed into six huge offices that maintain an aesthetic coherence and promote collaboration, creativity and productivity among our employees. This evolution hasn’t happened overnight, it is the result of a desire of growing, and the search for creating a healthy space.
Sensing a new project
This story starts in 2018 when the contract of the Argentina Office was coming to an end, and at the same time, the amount of people that worked from the place had increased by a lot. It was the perfect moment to think of a strategic change that would result in an aesthetic, functional, and reusable system: The style guidelines of the Auth0 offices; and the new Argentina Office, of course. But… where to start?
Research
We started to work cataloging a series of goals to cover, based mainly on the wellness of the user (the Auth0 employees):
- The User Experience:
We attended a lot of casual and programmed meetings with different users of the office where we had to exacerbate our senses to try to identify what they needed. We paid special attention to their habits, collaboration with other teams, and their relationship with the workplace: Why did they come to the office instead of staying in their houses? - Workspace Organization:
Besides a direct analysis (meeting with the users), we made a physical space research where we observed the relationship between the users and the environment. This led us, for example, to realize that we were needing more meeting rooms and, in some cases, there was some difficulty in the interaction among some teams. - Region & Customization:
While we were researching the space, we realized that we weren’t keeping in mind something very important from the Argentina Office: The Authsados. The Authsado is an event in which co-workers, and sometimes external visitors, gather to celebrate and exchange experiences or anecdotes, eating an Argentinian asado in the office. There is no doubt that regional culture is very important in order to generate inclusivity and a sense of belonging.
These kinds of practices require elements, and specific spaces to be carried out in a safe way, so their consideration in this step is a big goal.
Finishing the research stage, and already having in mind that we were going to build a lot of meeting rooms, we took advantage of the opportunity to add more personality to the office, assigning a name to each room. We chose a general theme together with the users, and in this way, we also made them participants in the design of the workspace.
Execution
In the initial stage, the execution was developed for the most part by an architecture studio who we worked together with on the project. They advised us about disposition, illumination and materiality based on the ideas and the budget we had. This was the moment to talk about spaces that improve collaboration, common places, relaxation areas, the playroom, and conference room, and we even came up with the idea of adding the stairs in a central area to promote the exchange of ideas.
Once this stage was concluded, then the fun began: the Office Customization!
Environment & signage system
The Auth0 office keeps a vibrant and positive energy which is the engine that propels its continuous evolution. For this reason, the direction we adopted when we had to furnish the spaces had as the main objective the preservation of these qualities:
- We chose bright walls and natural light in productive areas to generate a feeling of wellness , and also darker walls in recreational or relaxing areas to achieve an intimate and more comfortable environment.
- We tried to break up the cement structure adding nature which gave warmth and comfort to the place.
- We developed an icon and signage system to keep all office users (internal or external users) correctly informed about different spaces and important elements.
- We chose games like Ping Pong, foosball and Nintendo Switch for our playroom and dressed different rooms with paintings and silk-prints in order to make them more interesting.
All the office content was planned and conceived in order to try to achieve a creative, collaborative and productive place.
Finally, all the mentioned details (paint, nature, materials, illumination, signage, etc) were correctly documented thus creating the Auth0 Offices Guidelines which nowadays we use around the world.
We continue expanding the system
Just as Auth0’s overall design is continually evolving, so are its offices. Once the initial project of the Argentina Office was finished, we continued working on new projects and expanding the guidelines with new aesthetic resources.
The murals, lighting signs or Back to Office signage are examples of resources created after the office construction project. In order to expand the office language, it is important to keep yourself open to new possibilities and be flexible about changes that the future and technology could offer.
Summarizing
Working on this project, without a doubt, was an amazing experience where we explored and learnt a lot, and where we had the opportunity to work cross-team with a lot of people. It is very important to mention that the Auth0 Argentina Office was the result of: an Office Manager, Founders, Architects, Finance Team and, of course, the Design Team working together. So, if you’re planning to give identity and purpose to the physical space of your company, be prepared to work together with others, fix problems and learn. Remember that office designing can be the key that reinforces the values and culture of a company, as well as the beginning of a super interesting journey.
Special thanks to: Emily Hsiao, Cecilia Alvarez, Matias Woloski, Laial Amado and Sandra Karlsson.
If you’re interested in being part of our team, be sure to check out our current job openings:
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