Workplace

Salzar and associates’ work indicates that there are health benefits to standing while working and performance is not degraded by doing so.  The team reports that using data collected during 10 days of use of stand-biased, sit-stand, or traditional desks they “found that workers who use stand-biased desks stood more and sat less during their workday compared to workers who use traditional desks. Stand-biased users also experienced significantly less lower back discomfort compared to both traditional and sit-stand workstation users.

Research completed by Suresh and colleagues confirms that people are more creative in biophilicly designed offices.  They share that the “Biophilia Index has shown a significant positive correlation and a strong predictive value for creativity of employees. . . . [statistical analyses of data collected by the Suresh-lead team] indicate that employee creativity and its dimensions are comparatively higher in the group with high biophilic index than the group with low biophilic index.

Yildirim and colleagues evaluated how various sensory experiences influence mental state in workplaces.  As the researchers indicate, when people are cognitively refreshed, their cognitive performance and mood improve and their stress levels fall. The Yildirim-lead team gathered data in multisensory virtual reality simulations of an actual workplace, one with and one without biophilic elements: “the multisensory biophilic workplace significantly improved cognitive performance, reduced stress levels, and enhanced mood states compared to the non-biophilic one.

Ramantswana and colleagues evaluated user perceptions of open plan offices.  They report that “The choice of [office] layout can significantly impact communication, social interaction and overall performance. . . . employees working in open-plan offices were identified. A structured online interview form with open-ended questions was distributed. . . . findings suggest that while open-plan offices can enhance teamwork, communication, accessibility and inclusivity, their design can negatively affect employees’ perceptions of social and mental health in the workplace.

Perriton studied how design influences how people work. She focused on “the visibility, transparency and materiality of open spacing, which carry implications for the design and collaborative organising of open offices, including privacy, embodied experiences, informal hierarchy, power relations and feelings of belonging, particularly for newcomers. . . . Sitting in corners or against walls, for example, are likely to be favoured places of spacing, which may play a role for informal hierarchising and feelings of belonging.