Steelcase – Designing a Better Work Experience

Four new design principles meet new employee needs

The experience of working from home has changed people’s expectations of the workplace. They want and need a safe and compelling workplace that’s inspiring, more flexible and helps them get work done. They want more control over where and how they work, and designers will need to create spaces to solve for an even more diverse set of needs. Different design approaches will be required to create spaces that support the new ways people want to work and the things organisations need to compete effectively.

Me + We – Equally support individual and team work.

Designers need to balance the needs of teams and individuals by creating neighbourhoods where both collaboration and focused work can ebb and flow.

Fixed to Fluid – Design for greater flexibility and mobility

Design planning in the past often relied on a more formulaic approach, with a mindset toward permanent architecture and office settings. The new realities of how people and organisations need to become more agile requires designers to plan spaces that will regularly morph and change as needed.

Open + Enclosed – More enclosed “me” and open “we” spaces

Designers will need to think about ways to reinvent collaboration spaces that don’t always need four walls and a door, and individual spaces that feel more protected.

Braiding Digital and Physical – Enhancing human experience through technology