Whilst the
focus over the past few years has been on sustainability and the impact of
technology in the workplace, the future trends is to design for productivity,
creativity and collaboration. How can we better design to maximise human
productivity, potential and performance?
Productivity
is not sitting at the same desk all day with your head down. It is creating
solutions, achieving outcomes, solving problems. This does not necessarily come
from remaining isolated at your desk.
The world has changed. In the past, people had to sit
at their desks if they needed to answer emails, but today, anyone can do
that—or any other work—from anywhere. Mobile devices have released us from the
tyranny of the desk. From a creative perspective, it is no longer necessary to
make sure people are at their desks at all time.
Instead it makes it more crucial to ensure people have
a supportive, well-designed environment that give them the freedom to work
productively whilst connecting and brainstorming with each other. All their
senses need to be encouraged to engage.
Designing a
space with all five senses in mind can boost productivity in the workplace. It can make employees
happier, more engaged. Designer Jinsop Lee in a 2013 TED talk, postulated that
the best designs appeal to all (or most) of our senses.
Sensory design elements such as colours, lighting,
sounds, textures and smells can be purposefully adapted to enhance the work
environment and increase productivity. Spaces can be designed to meet the
requirements of all of our senses, the most obvious of these from a design
point of view is sight.
Sight
The easiest sense to appeal to, sight can be
manipulated most obviously by implementing colour psychology. Brighter colours,
such as reds, blues and greens, are conducive to higher focus and task
accuracy.
Blue is associated with calm, promoting mental
clarity, control and creative thinking. Some studies suggest it can produce
twice as many brainstorming results when compared to a red environment.
Citrus hues like yellow and orange, stimulating colours
by nature, help people feel more alert, allowing for clear decision making and
encouraging lively discussions.
By using colour strategically and following the basic
principles of colour psychology, you can promote desired behaviors.
Let there be
light
With the sense of sight, the most important part of
design is access to natural light. There is a strong relationship between
workplace daylight exposure and office workers’ sleep, activity and quality of
life.
Natural light is the most popular request by team
members when interviewed about their requirements in their office. Focusing on
natural light not only helps improve employee mood and productivity, it can also
help save on cooling, heating and power costs.
Embrace art
Engaging the sense of sight is about visual interest,
and an easy way to introduce this is wall art or sculptures.
Art that has interesting or thought-provoking subject
matters not only infuses your workspace with character, it can also stimulate
discussion and inspires workplace creativity.
By working with a corporate art curator, you can
select artwork that conveys your company culture and branding, sparks employee
imagination, and also supplements your Corporate Social Responsibility programs
by supporting local, emerging artists.
There is also scope for art installations to change –
so the artwork that stimulated and provoked your team last quarter does not
remain the same year-on-year. The objective for any corporate art curation is
to rotate, build and grow the collection, so it continually evolves and
inspires your people.
This Article was published on Sourceable.net in January 2015 and can be viewed at https://sourceable.net/tie-people-to-their-senses-not-desks/
