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
People and organisations will embrace hybrid working from home and office, travel will be less frequent and so remote collaboration is here to stay. Designers need to create solutions for individual and group video interactions that are not constrained to laptops or phones. Sensing technologies will need to be embedded to support increasing data-driven or artificial intelligence-guided experiences.
To read the full article by Steelcase: Designing a Better Work Experience