1,776 research outputs found
Forenet: A Context-sensitive Tool To Measure Social Wellbeing At The Workplace
No full textSocial wellbeing at work by definition incorporates the feeling of belongingness, having satisfying social interactions and relationships with others (Fisher, 2014). During the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home has raised our awareness that positive social interaction with colleagues or peers is crucial to our wellbeing and the lack of it might lead to negative effects like exhaustion (Meyer et al., 2021). It has been researched that positive social wellbeing at the workplace can boost mood, increase productivity and performance (Dutton and Heaphy, 2003). Thus there is a need to measure and monitor the social wellbeing of employees at work for organisations like TU Delft. Supervised by Annemiek van Boeijen and initiated by Susanne Colenberg, this project aims to develop a tool that measures social wellbeing at the workplace. Recognizing the fact that the tool design could face challenges including different contextual influences and diverse needs and values of stakeholders, a design challenge was formulated to design a context-sensitive tool that can enable adaptation to different local contexts in order to meet different needs. The focus was put on the measurement form design instead of the content like what to measure. To tackle the challenge, this project followed a design process using the model of Double Diamond(Design Council, 2019) and Basic Design Circle (van Boeijen et al., 2020). To explore, methods of literature study and participatory research were combined to understand existing measurement tools and investigate stakeholders’ experiences. By synthesizing insights from the research, main problems were identified and a design vision was formulated. To inform the concept development, a list of design requirements were developed based on the theoretical architecture of the approach, Context Variation by Design (Kersten, 2020). Guided by the design vision and the design requirement, concept development was conducted starting by defining a basic framework of a continuous system. During the development, two rounds of ideation were executed both with reflections and idea convergence in the end. With the first ideation, possibilities were explored and a design direction was selected. The second ideation was used to design a more concrete concept that aimed to create a supportive network. With the clear concept, a final design was created and introduced, the app Forenet. With the app, employees could help improve social wellbeing at the workplace by sharing anonymous opinions. HR officers can use this app to customize how employees provide those opinion data and collect and track data about their social wellbeing over time. The final prototype was developed through Figma and stimulated into animation for design evaluation. With evaluations with employees and HR officers, what could be opportunities, challenges and drivers for its implementation were identified. Strategies to implement the design at TU delft context and a using manual for HR officers were proposed. In the end, recommendations for future development were also suggested.Strategic Product Desig
Identifying interior design strategies for healthy workplaces – a literature review
No full textPurpose: It is widely recognized that interior office space can affect health in several ways. Strategic and evidence-based design, including explicit design objectives, well-chosen design solutions and evaluation of results, aid realization of desired health effects. Therefore, this paper aims to identify possibly effective interior design strategies and accompanying design solutions and to provide examples of effectiveness measures. Design/methodology/approach: A literature sample of 59 peer-reviewed papers published across disciplines was used to collect examples of workplace design features that have positively influenced workers’ well-being. The papers were grouped by their health objective and design scope successively and their theoretical assumptions, measures and findings were analyzed. Findings: Four main workplace design strategies were identified. Design for comfort aims at reducing or preventing health complaints, discomfort and stress, following a pathogenic approach. It has the longest tradition and is the most frequently addressed in the included papers. The other three take a salutogenic approach, promoting health by increasing resources for coping with demands through positive design. Design for restoration supports physical and mental recovery through connections with nature. Design for social well-being facilitates social cohesion and feelings of belonging. Design for healthy behavior aims at nudging physical activity in the workplace. Originality/value: By drawing complementary perspectives and offering examples of design solutions and effectiveness measures, this paper encourages workplace designers, managers and researchers to take a transdisciplinary and evidence-based approach to healthy workplaces. It also serves as a starting point for future empirical research.Design Conceptualization and CommunicationReal Estate Managemen
Beyond the coffee corner: Workplace design and social well-being
No full textPositive social interactions and feeling connected with people around us are fundamental human needs and crucial to our well-being. This dissertation explores how interior office design could foster workers’ social well-being. The research indicates that to enhance social interactions and a sense of belonging, factors like atmosphere, diversity, and privacy may be more important than a fancy coffee corner.Design Conceptualization and Communicatio
Supporting restoration in the home-work setting: Biophilic design to re-establish the boundaries between work and private life
No full textThe amount of people working from home has been increasing. However, working from home has its issues and consequences. The degree to which one experiences recovery from stress and fatigue is limited when working from home, which has consequences on motivation, performance, health, and well-being. The aim of this project was therefore to develop a product that supports restoration during working from home. One way to achieve restoration is described by the Attention Restoration Theory, which poses that interaction with an environment can restore mental fatigue if it meets four properties: 1) a sense of being away, 2) fascination, or effort less attention, 3) extent, or a feeling of immersion, and 4) compatibility and congruence between the person and the environment. If an experience meets these properties, it can have similar restorative powers. User research with homeworkers following the context mapping method revealed where the opportunities for an intervention lie. This user research showed that the four properties of attention restoration were not all met in the current home-work-environment, thereby limiting the possibility for the home-work-environment to be restorative. Especially the sense of being away is limited, due to inability to distance oneself physically as well as psychologically from the workplace. A design direction was defined: re-establishing the borders between work and non-work, and making the switching moments more conscious. Nature is particularly good in meeting the four properties of attention restoration. Besides, nature can reduce stress, and improve mood and wellbeing. Biophilic design takes into account these advantages of nature and translates them into guidelines for design. A red thread throughout the concepting phase of this project is therefore biophilic design. The resulting design of this project is Ecflo, an inflatable lamp that functions as a break-reminder through dynamic light textures. Ecflo creates a liminal moment at the switching moments between work and non-work. Upon the start of a home-work-day the user inflates Ecflo, an interaction functioning as energizer. When it is time for a break, Ecflo moves and creates light effects, drawing the user’s attention away from the screen, towards a moment of fascination. Ecflo creates a conscious decision at this switching moment: continue work, or take a break. This way, it helps in structuring the home-work-day and helps separate work and non-work. Ecflo is restorative in the sense that it creates fascination through random and ephemeral patterns and movements. The design sustains interest, and thereby creates extent. The design is compatible in the sense that it is suitable for working from home and the home environment. However, evaluation study showed that the feeling of being away is limited, as Ecflo does not fully create an escape experience. Evaluation of the concept was done using the Perceived Restorativeness for Activities Scale. However, this scale is not fully suitable for product evaluation. Development of a research method suitable for evaluation of a product’s restorative potential is thus needed to evaluate Ecflo’s restorative potential. For further development of the concept, a functioning model should be made and tested with homeworkers. Design for Interactio
Social well-being in offices: A design intervention to enhance employees’ sense of belonging by stimulating informal social interaction
No full textThe report describes the design process that led to an implementation strategy for a design intervention that fosters a sense of belonging and cohesion in working environments, by increasing opportunities of spontaneous face-to-face informal encounters. The research follows two different approaches: the classical double diamond process from the Design Council (Ball B. J., 2019) and the Empirical Research through Design (ERDM) in which a design hypothesis (expectation about the effect of the design on behaviour and well-being) is formulated and then tested (Keyson, D. V., & Bruns, M.,2009). Since it was difficult to find an office physically open during COVID-19, the design process was developed at the IDE faculty involving IDE employees’, Team managers, experts in Social Sciences and Technology, the Human Resources and Facility Management department.The Discover phase of the project consisted of in-depth literature review and semi-structured interviews to explore the concept of social well-being in the workplace, and learn about the personal experiences and opinions of workers. The Define phase was devoted to scoping the problem, and the formulation of a design vision and hypothesis. The Develop phase aimed to explore several directions for the final design intervention, and consisted of three generative phases with different stakeholders involved through evaluation, co-creative and iteration sessions. The fourth Deliver phase, was aimed at defining the final design intervention in terms of feasibility, desirability and viability. This phase involved testing the prototype in the coffee corners of the IDE faculty (through observations and short interviews), and formulating an implementation strategy that emphasises the importance, methods and stakeholders’ benefits of adopting the final design solution.During the pandemic, the sense of cohesion and belonging between colleagues is significantly reduced due to the decrease of spontaneous face-to-face informal social interactions. As the hybrid working mode is expected to be the future of the way of working (de Klerk J. J., 2021), it is important that organisations emphasise the social aspect of the office by increasing the possibilities for social interactions between colleagues (Dahik, A., 2021). A sense of belonging and cohesion in the office benefits not only the well-being of employees, but also the performance of the organisation (Rosales, R. M., 2016). The final design is a demonstration that it is possible to increase the sense of cohesion and belonging among workers, by means of an interactive object that increases the chances of informal serendipitous encounters. For implementation, organisations need to maintain long-term contact with supplier partners (e.g. furniture companies) to produce, assemble and develop new design features. These change according to the evolution of the pandemic, and the insights generated by ongoing user testing. The organisation is responsible for monitoring and directing the social behaviour of the office (Team Managers and HR Department), and for the installation and maintenance of the object within the office café corners (Facility Management Department). The continuous sharing of research insights between companies and supplier partners contributes to the development of knowledge for a healthier and socially connected workplace in the post-pandemic era.Strategic Product Desig
Expected user needs towards the post-Covid office: better support of social interactions and concentration
No full textBackground and aim – While remote working is not a new phenomenon, Covid-19 has forced many office workers to work from home for long consecutive periods. Recent research shows that while most of them say they can work productively from home, many feel less connected to their colleagues. This study explores how these experiences may influence employees’ needs towards the office workplace.Methods – Cross-sectional data were used from an online survey among four Dutch public sector organisations conducted between November 2020 and February 2021. These data include perceptions of 567 office workers regarding their workplace, both at home and at the office, and their motivations for working at the office.Results – The survey data show that the main reason to (want to) work at the office has shifted from meeting expectations to the need for informal social interaction. On the other hand, many still need the office for doing concentration work. Although the home workplace feels more comfortable, ultimately it is not rated better than the office workplace. The respondents indicate several shortcomings of their current office regarding support of socializing, belongingness, and privacy. Originality – While in the media different assumptions have been made about consequences of Covid-19 for future office use, few empirical studies have been conducted to substantiate these expectations.Practical implications – This study shows that Covid-19 has increased the need for in-person interaction at the office without decreasing the need for silence, and indicates how offices could better support socializing balanced with concentration work. Type of paper – Short research paper.Design Conceptualization and Communicatio
Towards an interdisciplinary employee-workplace alignment theory
No full textMany theories from different research disciplines apply to workplace design and management. This chapter describes a first attempt to integrate 21 of those theories into an overall employee-workplace alignment (EWA) framework, as a starting point towards developing a grand EWA theory. Through concept mapping, the tacit knowledge underlying each theory was made explicit in three to five statements that were sorted by 22 experts. By performing multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, the statements were grouped into eight concepts that reflect the essence of the 21 theories within three regions of meaning: ‘Need-Supply Alignment’, ‘Cognition and Behaviour’, and ‘Organisational Context’. The framework created from the eight concepts connects the different theories in many ways. A further discussion of the three regions and underlying concepts of the framework, in relation to existing workplace research and theory, identifies many research gaps that need attention before the EWA theory can be fully developed. The chapter ends with implications for practice and some closing words for the entire book. © 2021 selection and editorial matter, Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, Susanne Colenberg, and Vitalija Danivska.Peer reviewe
Increasing employees’ sense of belonging: Design of an intervention to stimulate meaningful chats in offices
No full textThis project aims to improve employees’ social well-being in offices through informal interactions. It consists of 3 phases in total, context research, idea generation and concept development. Experiencing prototyping was mainly used in the design process.In the first phase, observation and interviews were conducted in 2 offices in Beijing to know about the context and discover problems and design opportunities. Another round of research was carried out in StudioLab for verification of the insights from Beijing offices. The results, combining with the results of the literature review, led to the design goal defined.Then the project started to focus on stimulating meaningful chats among employees to increase their sense of belonging. Ideas were brainstormed and selected, prototypes and storyboards were made to let participants evaluate the concepts through interviews. After 3 cycles of idea generation, the final concept direction was defined.After that, 2 cycles of concept development were conducted to iterate the concept. Again, prototypes were made and interviews were done to evaluate the concept and get feedback from participants. In the end, the final design was defined, final prototypes were made and final evaluation was conducted.Overall, it is a design project exploring solutions for solving one of employees’ social problems in offices, lacking the sense of belonging.Design for Interactio
Identifying the main constructs for an interdisciplinary workplace management framework
No full textThis second book in the series focuses on the role of workplace management in the organization and the tasks that workplace management needs to consider. The 18 theories that are presented in this book and applied to workplace research discuss management aspects from the organization’s perspective or dive deeper into issues related to people and/or building management. They all emphasize that workplace management is a complex matter that requires more strategic attention in order to add value for various stakeholders. The final chapter of the book describes a first step towards integrating the presented theories into an interdisciplinary framework for developing a grand workplace management theory.Design Conceptualization and Communicatio
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