Kinnarps Trend Report 2

TREND REPORT OFFICE BIOLOGY DESIGN FOR DIVERSITY

COCREATION

TECHITURE MICROMULTINATIONALS

WORKPL ACE AND LIFESPACE DESIGN FOR THE DIVERSE DECADE

THE MINDS BEHIND THE REPORT To find the most intriguing insights, one must often look beyond one’s own backyard. For the Kinnarps Trend Report 2015, we sat own with a specially-selected group of individuals who are as curious about the future of design as we are. We would like to thank the following for allowing us to pick their brains.

THANK YOU Ingrid Backman, Designer & partner, White Architects Jörg Bakschas, Founder & owner, Headroom Consultants Ulf Boman, Partner & future strategist, Kairos Future Stefan Brodbeck, Founder, Brodbeck Design Boris Müller, Professor interaction design, Fachhochschule Potsdam Sandra Gauer, Change management consultant & founder, Perspectives GmbH Kursty Groves, Author & workplace innovation consultant Susanne Hedin, Ergonomist, Ergonomhuset Cecilia Hertz, Founder & CEO, Umbilical Design Wayne Hemingway, Founder, Hemingway design Jörgen Jedbratt, Senior partner & advisor, Kairos Future Nina Jobs, Designer James Lawrence, Interior designer, Gensler Louis Lhoest, Partner, Veldhoen + Company Nicklas Lundblad, Director of public policy & government relations, Google Luca Nichetto, Designer, Luca Nichetto Design Studio Tim Oldman, Founder & CEO, The Leesman Index Petrus Palmér, Co-founder, Form Us With Love Johanna Agerman Ross, Founder & editor-in-Chief, Disegno Magazine Philip Ross, CEO, UnGroup – Un Work Ola Rune, Architect & designer, Claesson Koivisto Rune Monika Semkowicz, Interior designer, White Architects Paul Wheeler, Head of workplace strategy, Hewlett Packard

CONTENTS FOREWORD A Diverse Decade Calls for Diverse Thinking

5

DESIGNING FOR DIVERSITY Ditching Default Thinking The 4G Workforce The Design Equality Movement The Introvert/Extrovert Puzzle Inclusive Design For A Diverse World

7 9 10 11 12 14

OFFICE BIOLOGY Wellness Is The New Green Minding The Mindful Workspace Fighting Tech Fatigue The Human Office

16 19 20 22 24

TECHITURE The Disappearing Office Meetings Without Borders Making The Smart Workplace Smarter

27 29 32 34

CO-CREATION Workspaces In Between Time And Space The New Design Dialogue To Personalise Or Not To Personalise Hacker Culture Goes Craft Punk Design

37 39 41 42 44

MICRO-MULTINATIONALS The Liquid Worklife The Café Co-worker Home Sweet Office Home The Pop-up Workplace A Co-working Community

47 49 50 52 54 57

OUR DESIGN JOURNEY AHEAD

58

TREND REPORT 2015 A DIVERSE DECADE CALLS FOR DIVERSE THINKING We are on the brink of a great design shift, a shift driven by the digital revolution that steadily permeates our lives. This vast transformation is already underway for those who have been wise to embrace the future of technology – and thus the future of design – in their organisations, corporations, collaborations or individual enterprises.

This increasing openness and connectedness has created one vital focus area where we must concentrate our creative thinking: diversity.

Looking forward, this central driving factor of diversity will present itself through increased cultural exchanges, mixed gender workforces, introverts and extroverts collaborating seamlessly, joint ventures between individuals and corporations, and as many as four generations working side by side in the workplace.

At Kinnarps we believe that understanding this great shift and not hesitating to act upon it presents a number of opportunities to create workplace and lifespace design for the diverse decade, and therefore make life better at work. We want to share these opportunities with you because the future is already here. The question is how to collectively embrace these chances to create a positive, proactive contribution to the spaces where we spend so much of our lives.

Per-Arne Andersson CEO, Kinnarps

lorem ipusum

Our world today is mashed up and multifaceted, with borders and barriers blurring on all levels. Geography is no longer a factor – the issue is identifying talent, and keeping it, wherever it be found. The analogue and digital are no longer seen as opposites, but intertwined elements. Understanding our minds and bodies is now a prerequisite for understanding and building a modern worklife environment.

DESIGNING FOR DIVERSITY HOW DESIGN MUST

MEET THE NEEDS OF THE MANY

One size fits no one in today’s modern workforce, which is more diverse than ever. As borders blur in our working world – from geographical to those connected to gender, age and physical or psychological differences – higher demands are placed on the professional environment to attract and keep talent.

This continuous shift and development calls for a redrawing of not only workplace policies but the workspace itself, from architecture to furniture.

Design has the power to both unite and divide, and inclusive design is the key to our future work environment.

8

DITCHING DEFAULT THINKING Modernising and maximising the workplace for all Shift 2: The Design Equality Movement Female professionals have been entering – and staying – in the workplace for many years. Whilst the strive for equality between women and men is a staple of the modern workplace, the opportunities lie in fully researching eventual differences in gender structures and psychology to find out how this affects the design of objects and space. Questioning the existing design status quo from a gender perspective will be a driver for creating a truly inclusive workplace environment.

Shift 1: The 4G Workforce The four generation workforce is characterised by the young, more mature and senior employees working side by side as the digital thought economy allows for broader and longer careers. Designing with insight into how the different generations think and act will be crucial.

Shift 3: The Introvert/Extrovert Puzzle Everyone has different ways of thinking to find solutions and solve problems. A main difference lies between the introvert and the extrovert personality, and today’s workplace is wise to cater to both. Solving this puzzle will lead to all kinds of minds uniting to reach a common goal.

→ A DIFFERENT SETTING AND OPTION MUST BE CHOSEN ACTIVELY IN OUR WORKPLACES ←

9

Designing for Diversity

Within computing, the definition of default is a setting or option that a computer uses if you do not choose a different one. The overall default setting or option which our workplaces have had historically is the locally based male, aged mid-twenties to mid-sixties. But now a different setting and option must be actively chosen in our workplaces, products and concepts to modernise and maximise the workforce in order to welcome and adapt to the current diversity. We are in the midst of three main shifts and they all call for ditching default thinking.

THE 4G WORKFORCE

Designing for Diversity

Collaborating in a cross-generational context The population pyramids of the western worlds are being turned upside down. We live longer, we work longer and we have fewer children. This means that the 24-year-old will work alongside the 74-year-old. Recent research from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), shows that so-called ’4G-Workforces’ spanning four generations are becoming more common as people delay retirement into their 70s and 80s. However, according to The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), two-thirds of employers in the UK have no HR strategy for managing this age-diversity. And in the USA, the term ’Silver Tsunami’ has been coined to describe the possible impact of its ageing workforce.

Cross-generational collaboration is now a must but the question is how to facilitate it. On one hand, the older generation is more used to a certain set of default practices and prerequisites, such as a mainly nondigital workplace traditionally dominated by men. On the other, the new generation and the generations to come are so-called digital natives, born into a world where the Internet already exists, as well as a gendermixed workforce. Also, actual ageing sets the stage for a number of physical as well as psychological challenges.

These differences of course create tension – hopefully creative tension – and design can support in making cross-generational collaboration possible. Firstly, design can support; bridging the generational gap by creating a work environment that is fit for both digitally savvy new generations and those used to carrying out

10

→ EMPLOYEES OF DIFFERENT AGES HAVE DIFFERENT EXPECTATIONS OF WHAT CONSTITUTES GOOD DESIGN. THE CHALLENGE IS TO MEDIATE AND FIND DESIGN THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE. A CHAIR IS STILL A CHAIR, THERE’S NOT THAT MUCH DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CHAIR TODAY AND A CHAIR FROM 50 YEARS AGO. THE DESIGN OPPORTUNITY IS MORE ABOUT THE WAY THE WHOLE ENVIRONMENT WORKS.←

OLA RUNE, ARCHITECT & DESIGNER, CLAESSON KOIVISTO RUNE

their profession in a more analogue way, without one way excluding the other. Traditionally, older generations are used to doing one task at a time, while the younger tend to quickly practice and master multitasking, even though certain types of multitasking are being discussed as something negative to productivity and mindfulness overall. Secondly, the actual architecture and furniture in the work environment can be adapted to all ages, to support different physical and psychological stages of life. The trick is to address to everyone’s needs, without prioritising or discriminating any age.

THE DESIGN EQUALITY MOVEMENT Regenerating the workplace through gender perspectives Back in 2009, Boston Consulting Group stated in the report “The Female Economy” that as a market, women represent a bigger opportunity than China and India combined – and it is a well-known fact that women stand for 80-90 % of all buying decisions in the home.

There was also a breaking point in 2009 when, for the first time in US history, women worked as much as men. Three years earlier, The Economist published data regarding countries where women didn’t work, showing that the BNP in these countries stagnated compared to countries with a more balanced workforce. On top of that, studies show that companies run by female CEOs are more financially successful over time. Simply put – women in the workforce is a positive development for everyone – from a corporate as well as national perspective.

Yet male default decisions in design, concepts and policies still remain, making womens’ worklives challenging in a different way than for their male colleagues. In Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In”, she recounts a situation from her time at Google, where a walk to a meeting from a distant parking space while pregnant led to her asking superiors for designated parking for her and other pregnant coworkers and visitors. Shortly after, Google installed the reserved parking – the reason why it had not been there before was simply because the

thought had not occurred to the founders. Sandberg asks herself in her book how many other women had suffered in silence, not wanting to ask for special treatment.

Similar stories surface in the tales of business women, a common denominator being that the long absence of women in the workplace has created an environment where male needs are default, and women feel a need to adapt. In fact it is the workplace that should adapt.

When it comes to turning the process around and designing concepts with women in mind from the start, the still relevant successful case of the Volvo YCC – Your Concept Car – is bearing fruit.

In 2004, Volvo introduced the YCC, a car designed by women, for women.

Today, Volvo states that quite a number of the design features from the YCC have been introduced in commercial cars. The car introduced about fifty new features, of which around twenty have been put into production. Many of these features are technically cutting edge, such as a paddle shift gears, automatic start/stop and automatic parking.

The YCC is an example of inclusive

design – excellent thinking from a new point of view that fits a broader group of people.

83% OF THE CREATIVE INDUSTRY ARE MALE

Whether it be reserved parking lots or car features, this type of inclusive design connected to the work environment is becoming more commonplace, giving companies the chance to offer a workplace that stands for gender equality.

In turn, a defining step towards inclusive design in the workplace is to diversify the creative industry workplaces at the actual drawing table, as men stand for 83% of the creative industry. Designing with these challenges in mind in order to support women and men running both careers and homes will be central to all modern workplaces.

THE INTROVERT/EXTROVERT PUZZLE A quiet workplace revolution

Designing for Diversity

Psychology’s definition of an introvert is a person characterised by concern primarily with her or his own thoughts and feelings. This personality type is often seen as opposite to the extrovert, who is concerned primarily with the physical and social environment.

These classic definitions, the shy introvert and the outgoing, gregarious extrovert, have created stereotypes in the workplace.

However, lately the introvert has received not only acknowledgement but also understanding. Being a good co-worker is today not defined by being a classic extrovert, and more workplaces are adapting to this diversity to make both personality types feel welcome and create a culture constructed for the two ways of thinking.

Notably, the book Quiet by Susan Cain has shown just how different people are. Introverts need solitude and quiet nooks and crannies where they can concentrate on the task at hand, while extroverts may be able to concentrate and thrive better in an open landscape with chatter and social energy.

Today’s environments often favour the loud and more socially confident but expanded progression into a world driven by ideas, and the increasing demand for a broad spectrum of competences, have led to companies realising that both types are needed. Therefore making sure there is a design logic that fits both the introvert and extrovert will become important. This is supported by findings in a Leesman survey, where desk-based, individually focused work, is ranked as the most important activity in the surveyed database of over 70,000 people.

The rise of the introvert – or the rise in recognition of people who need to focus on tasks in other ways than the extrovert norm – is a core aspect to evolve from the previous trend for open plan offices. The contract furniture market has responded by offering ever more elaborate acoustic products. While this works as a temporary fix, it doesn’t necessarily solve diversity challenges as effectively as intelligent inclusive design.

12

→ ONE DISCUSSION THAT WE’VE HAD A LOT WITHIN THE COMPANY IS THAT WE ARE AN INTROVERT COMPANY. TODAY, IT’S ABOUT THE RETURN OF THE INTROVERT. SUSAN CAIN POINTS TO THE FACT THAT MODERN WORKPLACES HAVE BEEN COMMANDEERED

BY THE EXTROVERTS. IT’S BEEN TURNED INTO THIS OPEN PLACE WHERE COLLABORATION HAS NO BEGINNING IN ISOLATION. IT’S CERTAINLY CLEAR THAT A LARGE PART OF THE WORKFORCE REALLY YEARNS FOR THIS. YEARNS FOR THE ABILITY TO BE ALONE. TO SIT AND THINK AND READ AND SPEND TIME WITH YOUR OWN CREATIVITY FOR A WHILE BEFORE YOU SHARE IT, COLLABORATE AND PARTAKE IN A PROJECT. ←

NICKLAS LUNDBLAD, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, GOOGLE

→ DESIGN ISN’T JUST ABOUT CREATING PRODUCTS OR GIVING SHAPE TO AN OBJECT – IT’S ABOUT A MINDSET. IT’S HOW TO ORGANIZE ONE’S DAY OR HOW TO GO FROM A TO B. DESIGN IS NOW LESS FOCUSED ON CREATING MORE PHYSICAL PRODUCTS AND MORE FOCUSED ON MAKING THE PRODUCTS YOU HAVE FUNCTIONING BETTER. ←

JOHANNA AGERMAN ROSS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, DISEGNO MAGAZINE

Designing for Diversity

BEING A GOOD COWORKER IS TODAY NOT DEFINED BY BEING A CLASSIC EXTROVERT

13

INCLUSIVE DESIGN FOR A DIVERSE WORLD

lorem ipusum

These three main shifts, coupled with the more global workforce, creates a true cultural melting pot. It’s this that drives the new demand for design that caters for all types of physical differences while underlining the need for inclusive design. Inclusive design is, as the research and development centre IDRC at the OCAD University puts it: design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference. According to data from Leesman Index only 54% of over 70, 000 people feel that the design of their organisation’s workplace enables them to work productively, which is a definite sign that the time for designing in smarter ways for the many is more than ripe.

Realisation and acceptance of the need for inclusive design is the first step, and implementing it the next – and it is this implementation that will create a diverse and thus more innovative, productive and sustainable workplace.

PRINCIPLE 1 Design for simple, intuitive use. Create pleasing experiences for the user, without them needing to constantly consult an instruction manual.

PRINCIPLE 2 Consider the edges of the population, not just the centre. Include the widest range of age, gender and ability.

PRINCIPLE 3 Be empathetic. Walk in someone else’s shoes.

Different people will have different experiences of your product – try to see things from their perspective.

PRINCIPLE 4 Ergonomics is emotional as well as functional. What people feel about the product is as important as how it performs.

PRINCIPLE 5 Design for flexible use. Everything is connected, so design with versatility in mind.

PRINCIPLE 6 Keep good design good, regardless of the above principles. Make attractive aesthetics a core value, so users are not stigmatised.

lorem ipusum

CAPELLA – A CHAIR DESIGNED FOR INTUITION A chair is never just a chair. And sitting can be done in countless ways. Demands are high in today’s modern workplace, and a task chair should be user-friendly, have state-of-the art ergonomic features, be comfortable and sustainable. In this trend report, we speak of the importance of inclusive design, which for us is an overarching design strategy. Our new Capella chair range has been conceived with an inclusive design approach to meet the demands of a wider workplace population.

The first of Kinnarps’ principles for inclusive design reads “Design for simple, intuitive use. Create pleasing experiences for the user, without them needing to constantly consult an instruction manual”. Intuitive product design is the core of Capella, where a main element of the chair is the placement of levers. This control placement has been made to create a sequential and intuitive handling, where the evaluation of lever placement and input on design has been developed with a leading expert in the field, Prof.

Anna-Lisa Osvalder from Chalmers University Gothenburg, Sweden. This type of intuitive design not only enhances the sitting experience overall, but makes the chair flexible and well suited for Activity Based Workplaces, where the chair is used by different people.

15

OFFICE BIOLOGY HOW OUR WORK ENVIRONMENT IS ADAPTING TO OUR MINDS AND BODIES

Health is wealth, they say.

Today, our cognitive cogs, and the diversity between them, are being increasingly seen as equally important to our physical needs in the workplace.

Research within psychology lets our minds take as much space as our bodies in design development, laying out a set of opportunities for creating a healthy as well as efficient environment.

18

WELLNESS IS THE NEW GREEN Psychologically sustainable work environments for society’s bottom line Many different ingredients make up the modern workplace, differing greatly from old perceptions of how an office should function. Today, a softer approach, where psychological and cultural aspects are taken more seriously, is showing to have a positive impact on production, innovation and the bottom line for not only the companies themselves, but society’s well.

hours, global collaborators and more project-based work, brings many challenges for creating employee wellness, especially in the design department.

Interior designers must understand the diverse mindsets of the population they are catering for to create a variety of spaces. Realising that great minds do not think alike – and do not work alike – is the basis for the future workplace.

→IN OUR MOTIVATION TO CREATE, INNOVATE AND CHANGE OUR WAY OF WORKING – AND

Office Biology

LIVING – WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL THAT WE ARE NOT TOO FAST IN REGARDS TO OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT THESE VARIETIES OF CHANGE ←

SANDRA GAUER, CHANGE MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT, FOUNDER, PERSPECTIVES GMBH Sustainability within corporate culture has evolved to have a greater meaning and expanded to include, and be intertwined with, both the physical and psychological health of employees. Simply put, wellness is the new green, and making sure we last longer at work – and thus also throughout our lives – is a strategy challenge across company silos, not the least those in charge of design decisions. For instance, focusing on the well-being of employees could mean investing in height-adjustable desks, since research shows that health improves from varying posture and not remaining stationary during those long hours. The same kind of design decisions are now being made from a psychological point of view – by for instance creating different ambiences in selected areas through lighting and sound.

One of the drivers behind this push for wellness in the workplace is the fact that demographics are changing and different needs and expectations have arisen. New demographics, combined with factors like out-of-office

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY CREATE MOVEMENT THROUGH DESIGN ENCOURAGEMENT Physical movement sharpens the mind, and interior architecture can be designed to encourage people not just to be still in one place. Creating workplaces that actively make users move around can be achieved by locating amenities in different spaces.

SET THE TASK MOOD An agile work environment will create a variety spaces for an array of user needs.

One area could be quiet with low ambient light levels, muted colours and individual task lighting, whereas another could be bright and airy, with loud artwork or music in the background. Different individuals will find these spaces suitable for different tasks through psychological cues from the set environment.

19

MINDING THE MINDFUL WORKSPACE Awareness design for awareness of our surroundings

Office Biology

As governments and public health authorities see the true public cost of health issues such as obesity, smoking and alcohol abuse, legislation is being implemented to counteract the negative outcomes of unhealthy habits. Now, the private and public sector are following suit, making positive changes for their employees on both a physiological and psychological level. The way forward is an open to interpretation, using the insight of awareness design as a potential roadmap.

This new corporate perspective looks beyond that of physical ergonomics and examines areas such as how design can make spaces more or less stressful to be in, as failing in this area may lead to physical symptoms and thus also incur economic losses on all parts. For instance, studies in Scandinavia, have linked the office environment to physical ailments, measured by the number of sick leave days registered by companies and industries in a variety of areas. The psychological

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY LET THE PEOPLE CHOOSE First, define the types of interactions we have and define their dynamics. Then offer choice to people to make their own combinations of interactions and environments. The challenge is not to design for one thing, but to design for user choice.

aspects of workplace provision could well be more important than the physiological ones to a greater degree than we could have imagined. But how do we create a workplace from a psychological perspective?

For example, what do we need to really focus on in terms of visual and acoustic privacy?

To answer these questions, research is being conducted to investigate how much distraction people can cope with in order to be productive, and how elements such as light and the proximity of people influences effectiveness. The field of proxemics, in particular, is being studied to fully understand how we act and react to objects and people in our surrounding space. Ever since the “Effect of the self-schema on perception of space at work” was published, linking design and psychology in the workplace to each other, proposing a theoretical model connecting environmental perception, work satisfaction and sense of self – design thinking has sprouted from this growing ground for a more psychologically sound workplace.

Overall, design for reinforcing identity and self-esteem, as well as enhancing belonging and association with the organisation, will be implemented in the future.

Psychological ergonomics are a new frontier of workplace design, and recognising and caring for the different kinds of minds in the workplace is proving to be a successful strategy for well-being.

→THE MORE WE GIVE PEOPLE CHOICE AND THE BETTER THAT VARITY IS, THE MORE

WORK WITH HOW THE BRAIN WORKS

ORGANICALLY PEOPLE WILL FIND THEIR

For future workplace design, we must fully consider contemporary research that gives us insight into the way the brain works and the effect our environment has on it to support our workforce better.

WAY TO PERFORM. IT’S ALWAYS A BALANCE. DIFFERENT PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT NEEDS BECAUSE WE ARE DIFFERENT. ←

LOUIS LHOEST, PARTNER, VELDHOEN + COMPANY

20

CAN A DESK DEFINE A WORKPLACE DECADE? 1989 not only marked the end of a decade perhaps most memorable for business and yuppies, but also the starting point of the so-called ’workplace environment decade’. The Swedish general election was over and opportunities for making changes in the work market arose – it was time to launch the results of a research and development project driven by Kinnarps and Fagerhults; the Decade project.

The key to Decade was to develop a piece of furniture that allowed for switching between work areas and working positions several times a day. This goal was set with the insight that the trend for interior office design up until then had strived to create work stations so compact that one never had to stand up or leave during the whole day. Although now recognised as a fundamental part of good ergonomic thinking, back then it was still novel to consider that sitting still for long periods was something that could have negative consequences on health. Therefore, the main innovation of Decade was a desk which could be raised or lowered at will. It took twelve seconds for the desk – at first through a manual crank and later through an electric motor – to rise to its topmost point of 117 cm. And it could do this with a weight of 120 kilos on top of it – a telltale sign that our computers have come a long, lighter way since. Now, people could choose to sit or stand, and creating a more sustainable workplace in terms of health had taken a great leap forward.

Office Biology

Today, the Decade project has become part of Kinnarps history as a classic milestone. Decade paved the way for height-adjustable desks and better health in offices around the world.

→THESE DAYS, IT’S A GIVEN THAT A TABLE RANGE WILL INCLUDE A HEIGHT-ADJUSTABLE MODEL. THIS WAS NOT THE CASE 25 YEARS AGO WHEN KINNARPS PIONEERED AND LAUNCHED ITS FIRST HEIGHT-ADJUSTABLE TABLE. THIS WAS A REVOLUTIONARY STEP AT THE TIME, SOMETHING NEW THAT WAS QUESTIONED BY MANY. ←

ELISABETH SLUNGE, BRAND RANGE DESIGN DIRECTOR, KINNARPS

The Decade series was launched already 1989 and was a revolutionary step at the time.

21

FIGHTING TECH FATIGUE

→ WE NEED TO FIND A WAY OF FOCUSING WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS – IT MAKES NO SENSE TO GO INTO AN ENCLOSED ROOM TO FOCUS ON A TASK AND TAKE YOUR PHONE WITH YOU. BEHAVIOURS ARE THE KEY THING HERE,

Office Biology

BUT THE WORK ENVIRONMENT SHOULD ENCOURAGE AND SUPPORT THESE BETTER. ←

Keeping our brains fit for fight, not workplace flight

LOUIS LHOEST, PARTNER, VELDHOEN + COMPANY

A vital consideration point in a sustainable professional environment is learning to control the technology in our surroundings.

The way our digital tools have permeated our lives is not always seen as a positive thing.

inboxes are always with us through our smartphones and laptops.

In Scandinavia, tech fatigue is a problem that has been addressed in many ways. For example, in 2011, Sweden’s largest telecom provider TeliaSonera launched a free downloadable programme that enabled customers to disable the Internet for a set period of time. TeliaSonera also set up Internet-free zones in several public locations across Sweden during vacation time. On a global scale, there is a multitude of smartphoneapps for wellness, ranging in functions from meditation to actually turning all other apps off in order to create the solitude and peace we seem to seek.

By being constantly connected, the notifications we receive through our smart devices can become intrusive and a disturbance to our biological clock, especially our sleep cycles and concentration capacities.

Technology has been proven to be addictive, and without control we can experience so-called tech fatigue, where our minds are never at rest. It is this more addictive aspect of technology that is perhaps at the core of the challenges of balancing our work lives, since our

22

Tech fatigue not just creates tension between home and work

life – over immersion in technology is a problem during traditional work hours as well. The email inbox pop-up, instant messages, smartphone apps and social media are all distractions that prevent us from concentrating on focused tasks, or interrupt us whilst in meetings. Surprisingly, even some of the most highest ranked tech digerati share this problem with the average technology user. At Google, for example, a culture has evolved where meetings are defined as being laptop-free or not and longhand note writing is preferred to typing notes digitally.

The realisation that tech fatigue is in fact a very real problem with very real consequences, and is hard to master, has perhaps been a major factor to employers

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY BRINGING ANALOGUE BACK

CREATE A FEELING THROUGH LOOK AND FEEL To create heterogenous design spaces, designing products using different materials and form that communicate either an analogue or digital function can help our minds to understand this function in an easier way. High-tech objects can feel high-tech – low-tech objects can feel natural and simple, intuitively creating a feeling within us.

lorem ipusum

deciding to create workplaces where technology is less visible and home interior decorating influences design choices. This trend is however not a matter of rejecting digital for the sake of analogue, but of understanding that the rhythm of work needs a combination of practices and environments fit for a variation of thinking processes.

In the future, workplace design will create a balance between products and environments that leads to a more heterogeneous workplace for less tech fatigue.

Design should consider both digital and analogue as equals, and necessary for a functioning workplace. Buildings could have technology free spaces where people can have meetings or work quietly without digital interruptions, and the design of these spaces could encourage analogue activities such as drawing or writing on paper and reading books.

→ I DON’T BRING COMPUTERS TO MEETINGS ANYMORE. I USUALLY BRING NOTEBOOKS. I FIND THE NOTEBOOK AND THE SENSE OF LONGHAND WRITING INSPIRES A DIFFERENT COGNITIVE STYLE THAN TAPPING AWAY AT A KEYBOARD. I FOUND THIS TO BE TRUE FOR ALMOST EVERYONE AT GOOGLE ← NICKLAS LUNDBLAD, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, GOOGLE

23

WE ARE HUMAN – AND WE NEED OUR HUBS THE HUMAN OFFICE LONELINESS

21% of young people identified loneliness as one of their major concerns

As companies increasingly allow their employees to work in a more flexible way in the wake of empowering digital tools, the command and control approach to workplace design becomes irrelevant in many aspects.

The rationality of management by design is changing fast and one of the main roles corporate space now has is to provide an environment that will support and direct individuals in the tasks they do. A more human-centred design approach is needed that makes it possible for individuals to decide the best way to achieve their goals by providing for their needs, especially the psychological.

The office has always been an important meeting place in people’s lives. It will also remain a place, if designed correctly, where we gather to collaborate, be part of the team, feel at home and have a human

24

context. Office spaces, in our age of working everywhere and anywhere, are still hubs for corporate culture.

Work as a social hub also becomes important in terms of nurturing a healthy and happy staff. This is especially true for younger people, as 21% of young people aged 18-24 identified loneliness as one of their major concerns. To feel at home, with the artifacts that define the group is important, leads to rules of engagement and lets culture flourish. Allowing for the natural flow of ideas and thoughts is what will make the organisation grow.

As workspaces become places where people come to on an increasingly ad-hoc basis, and as work and home life blur, it seems unnecessary, even undesirable, that offices have a clinical, machine like feel. If people can work effectively at home, in hotels or at cafés it is natural that the office should bear

similar elements. This is however not about the office moving into people’s homes. Rather it is a case that offices imitate hospitality spaces, which in turn take cues from domestic interiors – complete with design thoughts and ideas in regards to aesthetics. Also, workplaces need to compete with the comfort of working from home, and are therefore becoming less clinical with wellness in mind to be creative and productive.

PEOPLE THINK, IS THE MYTH THAT EVERYBODY WANTS TO WORK AT HOME AND THAT THE OFFICE IS AN OUTMODED CONCEPT. PEOPLE MIGHT NOT WANT TO BE IN THE OFFICE FIVE DAYS A WEEK, BUT THEY CERTAINLY WANT TO BE THERE MORE OFTEN THAN NOT AND FEEL THAT THEY BELONG. IT’S A MATTER OF GETTING THE BALANCE BETWEEN BEING ABLE TO WORK ANYWHERE, WHICH IS A BONUS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY, BUT NOT LOSING THAT ABILITY TO SIT AND HAVE FUN AND CHAT, PHYSICALLY←

WAYNE HEMINGWAY, FOUNDER, HEMINGWAY DESIGN

a company’s brand values. They are what makes us “us” at work.

We come to work to be part of a community and less to just produce – what makes us tick is something that has to be alive in that office.

And people do still work in offices, after all. Numbers from a Leesman survey of over 70,000 respondents show that 17% work from home.

In other words, the saying “culture eats strategy for breakfast” rings true. The social context that is created in an office relies heavily on its design, meaning that creating a

living, breathing corporate culture starts with a social motive for interior design, from collectively chosen art to individual choices. The opportunity here is to understand the best way to create a culture is to make a workplace into more than a workplace, a place for working adapted to human nature. And it is through this that we can create a better worklife balance, where life at work and life at home are separate, but still connected in a healthy, flexible way.

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY A NEW DESIGN MANTRA In a new heterogeneous workspace, furniture could be designed that fits equally well in the office or at home. The mantra of all office furniture designers should be “would you want to have this at home?”.

25

Office Biology

Another aspect of making the office more human is securing that the workflow is optimised in a sustainable way by considering human senses in design choices, such as touch, sight, hearing, smell and perhaps even taste. A five senses approach to workplace design, similar to five senses marketing, is becoming an aspect of workplace planning. To meet this challenge, the Activity Based Workplace is on the rise, where office workspaces are adapted to individual tasks. Additionally, this type of interior layout can strengthen the feeling of ‘community’, an important part of

→ WHAT’S NOT CHANGING, CONTRARY TO WHAT A LOT OF

TECHITURE HOW A N A L O G U E AND D I G I T A L ARCHITECTURE CREATE THE NEW WORKPLACE

Architecture and technology interaction is a main driver in the next great design shift. Digital solutions for more seamless ways of work are already here, making those who seize these opportunities winners in the coming decade of diversity. We are living in the age of Techiture and designing for workplaces adapted to human relevance, not hardware dominance, is key to the future employee environment.

28

THE DISAPPEARING OFFICE From technology-driven workplace design to design-driven technology in the workplace The technology in our lives has previously necessitated the use and ownership of physical hardware. And technology has changed how we work and live through the architecture we build around it. For instance, the TVs entrance and existence in our homes has changed our domestic architecture and design to fit its space demands, from hiding it in furniture, to creating furniture – altars almost – in order to place it centre stage, to becoming a slim, discreet screen on our wall.

Future corporate workspaces will look and operate in fundamentally different ways from how they have in the past. The traditional office design, layout and aesthetic that we have become used to over the last 50 years is becoming obsolete with new technology.

What organisations need to allow for their employees to be productive has changed – and the design of what we call an office must change radically to respond to this development.

PAUL WHEELER, HEAD OF WORKPLACE STRATEGY, HEWLETT PACKARD

TODAY, TECHNOLOGY HAS TRULY BECOME AN INVISIBLE FORCE

29

Techiture

Yet unlike domestic design, office design has worked more in harmony with computer hardware. Obvious examples are the wire-managed panel systems of the 80s and 90s, and the corner core desk designed to deal with the depth of CRT-monitors. Less obvious are the similarities in IT-infrastructure and office layout, and the similarity between the formal style of interior design as well as the form of computers and circuit boards they housed.

→ IF YOU LOOK AT A CONSPICUOUS BUILDING IN LONDON LIKE THE ONE CANADA WATER BUILDING, TAKE A LOOK AT THE MULLION INTERVAL. THAT MULLION INTERVAL DETERMINES THE PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF THAT HUGE BUILDING, BECAUSE IT IS DETERMINED BY THE SIZE OF A WORK STATION. AND THAT WORK STATION’S SIZE IS DETERMINED

BY A NEED TO PUT A PC SCREEN OR LAPTOP ON IT. I THINK THERE’S GOING TO BE A LOT MORE FREEDOM IN HOW WE DESIGN IN THE FUTURE, WHETHER IT’S IN ARCHITECTURE OR FURNITURE, OR WHETHER IT’S IN RECREATING AND RE-ESTABLISHING WORK PROCESSES OR SUPPLY CHAINS.←

Techiture

On an individual level, one of these changes is that employees will have an ever increasing expectation of not only the way their workplaces look and feel, but also expectations regarding the technology they are able to use in their work, since the choices are wider than ever.

To meet this growing expectation, some companies have let go of the control over employees’ technology, giving rise to the Bring Your Own Device trend – where employees get to use whatever digital means necessary to help them get their job done and even have a budget to buy their own device.

On an architectural level, this means having an open mind toward diverse workspace solutions. In

the past, technology set dominant design demands on the workplace, but today there are more eyesoothing options where we can put aesthetics and digital tools in harmony with each other through smart solutions. The workplace is now also taking notes from the domestic market to a further extent, and companies can create their own design demands rather than technology setting the demands on the office design. In fact, technology previously led the design in the workplace and a diluted version ended up in our homes. Now we see the availability of technology in the domestic market coming

into the professional workspace, along with its design. Simply put: We are now free to choose interior architecture with regards to technology design rather than technology demand.

Tech demand and design:

A TELLING EXAMPLE FROM THE DOMESTIC REALM To look into the future, one sometimes needs to have a look at the past. When televisions first appeared in people’s homes in the 1950s, they were disguised as pieces of ordinary furniture, sometimes even doubling up as a drinks cabinet or sideboard. As we became more accustomed to technology in the home, the products we bought – and aspired to buy – took on a design language of their own. Rather than being concealed in the drawing room, the TV became the focal point of the lounge, with a three-piece suite arranged around it. The function of the domestic sitting room changed, as did the design of the TV set, which by the 70s began to take on new forms, being black, square and unapologetically obtrusive. By the 80s, the TV remote control became the sceptre of power in the household – the more buttons and functions, the better. However, as screens slimmed down, they were integrated into our walls and we now prefer just a few buttons on our devices to do the trick. Likewise, workplace design has evolved around hardware that enabled the use of technology.

Now, less has once again become more on the digital front, and the more advanced the technology is, the simpler it seems to appear design-wise in our homes and workplaces.

30

lorem ipusum

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY SET THE WORKPLACE FREE! Workplace architecture will have greater freedom, no longer being based around such rigid criteria of floor plate sizes, lighting levels, air conditioning and data cabling grids.

→ IN OUR DIGITALISED AND GLOBALISED TIME AND AGE, THE WORKPLACE IS ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING AREAS FROM AN ARCHITECTURE PERSPECTIVE. WORK AND LIFE ARE WOVEN TOGETHER AS NEVER BEFORE, AND THE COMMUNITIES WITHIN ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY – INDIVIDUAL ENTERPRISES AS WELL AS CORPORATE GIANTS – MUST COLLABORATE TO CREATE THE BEST POSSIBLE WORK ENVIROMENT FOR THE WORLD.←

JACOB SAHLQVIST, CHAIR, SWEDISH ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS

STEP ASIDE, IT HARDWARE Interior workplace design can be approached in new ways, basing it purely on the work people do and the way we interact, no longer constrained by the needs for IT hardware and infrastructure.

GIVE THE OFFICE A TECH MAKEOVER The classic ’office look’ that has been driven largely by technology and management structures is becoming redundant. Products designed for the workplace environment will not need to have a different aesthetic from those designed for hotels, restaurants, bars or homes.

31

Image: Boris Müller

→C COMPA CO COMPANIES OM O MPA M MP PA PA AN ANI NIIE N I ES S ARE A GETTING INCREASINGLY INCREA MORE VALUE FRO OM M MI MINI MIN IN N IIN N G DATA NG A A AND A UNDERSTA FROM MINING UNDERSTANDING IT’S PATTERNS. THE E WAY WA W AY Y YOU YO Y OU O U DO O THIS T THI IS THROUGH VISUALISATION, WHICH IS ST TR REM R ME EN ND N DO D OU O US U SLY S IMPORTANT. IM TREMENDOUSLY THE QUESTION IS, WHAT KIND K D OF OF V VIS IS SUA SU S ALISAT A SATION ATION AT IION N SPACES CAN CA YOU CREATE? AND VISUALISATION HOW H OW WC CA AN A NY YOU UC CREAT EATE THEM IN A W EAT CAN CREATE WAY THAT HELPS PEOPLE DE D EB E BA B AT E A E, DISCUSS, DIIS D SCUS S USS, US S, AND NOT ONLY B DEBATE, BE THE RECIPIENTS OF INF FO F OR RM MA M AT A TII O T ON N? A SINGLE N SING NGLE PRESENTATION NG PRESENT INFORMATION? DICTATORSHIP, WH HE H ER E RE R E THE TH T H E SCREEN SCRE SCR SCRE WHERE SORT OF SCREAMS AT YOU AND TH HE H ER E RE R E IS N NO INTERACTIVITY, IS UN THERE UNINTERESTING. WHAT IS S IINTERESTING NT N TER T RE R ES STING IS WHEN YOU CAN INTERACT WITH IIN NF N FO FO OR RM MA M ATIIION A ON N IN N DIFFERENT D INFORMATION WAYS AND RESHAPE IT. DE D ES E SIG S GNIN G GN NING NIN N G INTERACTIVE IIN ENVIRON DESIGNING ENVIRONMENTS WHERE YOU CAN DO D O THAT T TH HAT IN A GOOD G HA WAY IS VERY HARD. ←

NICKLAS LUNDBLAD, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PU POLICY & GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, GOOGLE

MEETINGS WITHOUT BORDERS

meeting rooms are making way to spaces and places designed for visualisation and collaboration in a digital, Big Data era.

Creating visualisation spaces and collaboration places in the Big Data era

Firstly, a few words on Big Data from a designers’ perspective.

Big Data – this all-encompassing term for any collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using traditional methods – opens up vast opportunities for a designer. Not only can this data be used to create new products but the analysis, insight and design process can also change radically if workspaces and tools are designated for this process.

Work has always revolved around people, the meeting of minds.

Without meetings, ideas would in most cases still be the figment of someone’s imagination, instead of making their way into reality and potentially changing the world.

Today, screens are perhaps the most important tools we use in order to create and facilitate meetings, and screens are also the key to creating a seamless workflow to find the best idea and realise it. Traditional

32

However, the opportunity of Big Data also gives way to risk. Due to

the sheer amount of information that tha Big data provides, it can bring confusion, or even manipulation, around insights, inevitably leading to bad design. Therefore, proper tools and spaces for this new way of design thinking are critical. The way screens will fit into this equation will not only create first a fertile idea environment for workplace designers, but will let designers create a fertile idea environment for the rest of us.

So what are the implications for the next generation of meeting rooms? The classic meeting room has a projection screen at one end, table centre and whiteboards on the side. This creates a table-centric collaboration space, often with chairs getting in the way of free

movement. One main screen only allows for attention being on one presentation at a time, often sitting down and listening to a single presenter. Also, presentations are not commonly shared and collaborated on through digital tools.

The next generation of meeting room might not be table-centric, with more freedom to move from touchscreen to touchscreen and collaborate on each others’ work that has been brought to the digital collaboration space – from that room or from another place entirely.

As working in the cloud becomes more secure and data there accessible, screens will be access points to this data and designing to enable new ways of visualising and interacting with this data and these screens presents a clear opportunity to create a workplace where meetings have no borders.

WITHOUT MEETINGS, IDEAS WOULD IN MOST CASES STILL BE THE FIGMENT OF SOMEONE’S IMAGINATION

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY MAKING ROOM FOR INTERPRETATION The way Big Data interpretation spaces are realised is a tremendous opportunity for future designers of interaction technology, architecture and products.

DESIGNING FROM DATA Big Data itself offers a design opportunity in that the patterns it reveals can offer insight into population behaviours that were not previously available. A better understanding of, say, the way ergonomic furniture is actually adjusted could give manufacturers valuable understanding on the effectivness of their products.

33

MAKING THE SMART WORKPLACE SMARTER Getting Techiture talking for optimal design

108 MILLION

Machine-to-Machine devices in 2011

34

Design for work in a virtual world means that the rules of workplace design are changing and the workplace will be a new type of ecosystem. Digitised buildings and inanimate objects that are connected and communicating with each other in real-time are already part of our present day, and will be even more so in our future.

There are several different paths to follow in order to see how design is progressing – making the already smart workplace smarter.

the world’s wireless networks reached 108 million in 2011 and will at least triple by 2017, including machines from elevators to printers to office environment thermometers. This development is now being joined by the view of technology being divorced from objects other than interaction surfaces, which can be seen as an extrapolation of The Internet of Things. This creates two design ways forward, and opportunities arise from both.

The idea of technology being embedded in every object allowing these objects to communicate through the web – known as The Internet of Things – has been implemented into design ideas and development for quite some time now. The number of so-called Machine-to-Machine devices using

However, both ways of creating Techiture are means to the same end – living a high-tech lifestyle in a visibly low-tech environment. This Techiture makes the office smarter by mainly making technology invisible and working in a more flexible way through simple things such as less cables and sockets

→ THERE IS A PERSPECTIVE THAT TECHNOLOGY WILL DRIVE INCREASING CHANGE IN THE WAY WE WORK, THAT WE WILL CARRY MORE DEVICES THAT ARE LOCATION-AWARE AND THAT THE SPACES WE OCCUPY WILL BECOME DIGITISED. THIS FITS INTO THE TREND CALLED ‘THE INTERNET OF THINGS’, WHICH PREDICTS THAT MANY INANIMATE OBJECTS WILL HAVE THEIR STATE RECORDED IN REAL-TIME, LEADING TO A MASH-UP OF LOCATION-AWARE SERVICES AND EXPERIENCES, ENCOURAGING COLLABORATION AND ENCOUNTERS OF ALL TYPES. THE BUILDINGS WILL BE AWARE OF WHO’S IN THEM AND WHAT’S HAPPENING INSIDE, AND WILL GO FROM BEING ‘DUMB CONTAINERS’ TO BECOMING A REAL-TIME ASSET. THERE WILL BE A COLLISION OF SMART DATA WITH PEOPLE ON A CITY LEVEL RIGHT DOWN TO BUILDING LEVEL. ←

PHILIP ROSS, CEO, UNGROUP – UN WORK

as well as more advanced devices such as screens used as a blank canvas on your wall, ready to receive your ideas and store them in the cloud.

Techiture

On a grander scale, embracing Techiture is about rethinking the way we work from a macroperspective. Much of the workplace architecture of the past is based on working patterns that are decreasingly relevant. As mentioned above, digitised buildings offer a key to unlocking new patterns about people, how they work and how they use space. For instance, the design thought of an office space may be to create a place for

collaboration between many people, but in real life, people use this space to shut themselves in to concentrate one person at a time, thus ’hacking’ the space. With real-time information in digitised buildings, this hacked space can be discovered and be learned from for future architecture design.

Today’s architects have great opportunities to redefine what a workplace means in the built environment, especially if future builds are based on an authentic understanding of how people go about their days work and life.

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY LISTENING TO BUILDINGS As buildings become intelligent to the way they are occupied and used, designers can analyse this data to gain a better understanding of which parts of the building are effective and which are not.

This information will allow the designer to constantly optimise the workplace to ensure they respond to the way in which people actually use them.

35

CO-CREATION HOW WE COLLABORATE WITHOUT BORDERS

Radical openness, total transparency and an open source mindset are setting the stage for creation and collaboration without borders – a stage on which design has a leading role. Collaborating and creating together – from anywhere, at any time, in small companies as well as large corporations – is becoming simpler and smoother, and these new possibilities are impacting the design of everything from small objects to work stations and whole buildings.

WORKSPACES IN BETWEEN TIME AND SPACE A toolbox for future collaborations without boundaries Virtualisation and globalisation have created an environment where time and space are not what they used to be. Work in this new world means meeting and greeting colleagues in other functions, locations, business units and time zones in a culture of co-creation and mass collaboration.

This is a force that will push the limits for work in digital worlds further and influence workplaces in many aspects.

Organisations will need to adjust and design their physical workplaces with, for instance, multi-use spaces, project-designated zones and up-to-date technology for thought productivity. One main facilitator for this type of workspace is the easy access to digital material everywhere, providing mobility and an increased focus on knowledge exchange, sharing inspiration and networking. This is something that many feel is well on its way and backed by organisations. In a survey

by Leesman with of over 70,000 respondents, 79% fell that remote access to work files and network is supported.

Today, new, large-scale initiatives for this type of digital access are being introduced by different companies, such as Google Drive and the HP Virtual Room Collaboration Platform, which allows team members to host team meetings, customer briefings and training events in one convenient online location. Yet despite efforts,

most workplaces are still mainly reliant on one-person editing and access of one document on one device. To fully embrace mass collaboration and co-creation, behaviours and security must be adapted to a more fluent type of work model, where trust is vital and communication is key; for instance, let several people work on one presentation in draft form which is in the cloud.

→ ORGANISATIONS WILL NEED TO ADJUST AND DESIGN THEIR PHYSICAL WORKPLACES WITH, FOR INSTANCE, MULTI-USE SPACES, PROJECT-DESIGNATED ZONES AND UP-TODATE TECHNOLOGY. �

Telepresence and smart walls will be an integrated part of these spaces, where open design collaborations is possible. More focus will lie on screens in various

39

Co-creation

forms and sizes as well as on being able to easily bring digital work everywhere. The screen becomes the major tool and interaction space. Synchronous tools will also be added to a greater extent: video and audio conferencing, data sharing, and presence detection are all examples of this.

New office designs will have to facilitate this virtual workspace and also include the social aspect in virtual collaboration meetings.

These workplaces will offer employees more security and new social practices will develop to provide privacy and solitude.

Employees will be able to let go of their private desk while simultaneously receive access to

uncountable work places – within or outside the office premises.

Information regarding things like future product development and supply chain, which companies would have previously thought of as top secret, are now becoming public knowledge. The sharing of product development and the invitation for customers to comment can play a major part. Clothing brand Patagonia is a leading example of a company willing to let the world in on their sourcing and design process in detail. Also, actually letting the world’s customers in on having their say in design, from the individually chosen colours of sneakers in the NikeID project to the new taste of Walkers Crisps in a customer competition, has gone

from just being a trend to being a way of conducting everyday business for corporations who realise the potential of collaboration.

As companies increasingly invite collaboration from external parties, their spaces – both virtual and physical – will become more permeable. This will offer both challenges and opportunities in terms of security and public relations. There may no longer be the concept of the back office, as customers will be mixing with company staff, and therefore the company needs to be portrayed consistently throughout in order to meet this type of diversity.

→ MANY BELIEVE WORKPLACE DESIGN IS ONLY ABOUT INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE, YET THIS AREA REVOLVES AROUND SO MUCH MORE. ORGANISATION, TECHNOLOGY AND LEADERSHIP MUST PLAY A PART IN THE PROCESS; COLLECTIVELY UNDERSTANDING THAT CREATING A MODERN WORKPLACE NEEDS INSIGHT FROM ALL PARTIES. TO BUILD A COLLABORATIVE ORGANISATION YOU NEED TO NURTURE A COLLABORATIVE CULTURE. THERE’S NO SIMPLE

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY UNDERSTAND SHIFTING WORK PATTERNS Mixing physical and virtual communication in the same space creates new design criteria for interior, interaction and product design.

The opportunity lies in understanding shifting work patterns and to provide environments that support them.

FORMULA FOR THIS, THE CHALLENGE WE FACE IS TAKING IN ALL FACETS OF A COMPANY AND

STAY SAFE AND SECURE

TAILORING SPACES ACCORDINGLY. ←

Managing the security of information and space in this new type of company provides a significant challenge – and is an opportunity for those who crack the code of not letting others crack codes.

PER-ARNE ANDERSSON, CEO, KINNARPS

40

Customers and companies unite We can see several dimensions of co-creation in the mass collaboration era. The main issue for companies is to become transparent, to build trust and create a design dialogue together with employees and collaborators around the world. By bringing in user groups into the design process, companies can better understand needs and encourage contribution.

This is not only true for offices, but for companies and their customers.

For example, many companies have worked together with their fan base to harness and release the power of their highly engaged customers.

An increasing number of companies have introduced a new role in the board of directors, the CCO, Chief

Customer Officer, an executive who provides the comprehensive and authoritative view of the customer.

This person can be responsible for influencing the company’s strategies and customer relations from user interfaces and call centres, to involving customers in innovation processes.

Now, companies also start up or participate in collaborative thought cells or structures where the company can cultivate the crowd and encourage customers to selforganise and share their ideas in the creative process. Examples of companies like this range from Nokia, who released 3D-printing software files to encourage people to design and make their own phone cases, to Uber who partners with different companies in campaigns, to Candlewood Suites who launched the initiative “Lending Locker” which enabled guests to borrow household items not usually found in hotel rooms. And let’s not forget Kickstarter, where anyone can pitch an idea and raise funding for it from

the masses. The list goes on.

As the digital revolution continues to unfold and the world becomes more connected by the minute, this paradigm shift is entering a more mature phase. Co-creating and mass collaborating is truly implemented when companies and customers work together to push design further.

→ COMPANIES AND CUSTOMERS WORK TOGETHER TO PUSH DESIGN FURTHER INTO THE FUTURE ←

41

Co-creation

THE NEW DESIGN DIALOGUE

TO PERSONALISE OR NOT TO PERSONALISE

Co-creation

Sharing is caring, but make it personal Personalisation is an important ingredient of the hacker and maker culture. Defining one’s self and one’s group in this new age, where workspaces are fleeting and unstable employment is common, has become more important. The wish for personalisation of our common workspace might always have existed as long as we have had spaces to personalise, yet in the digital era characterised by new technology, transparency and new ways of organising, the way we define ourselves and our group will look rather different than it did in the old industrial society.

Scientific research is in fact presenting evidence that personalisation helps employees overcome memory limitations, creating greater and longer storage capacity and better resistance to interference. At the same time, as we see Activity Based Working, ABW, becoming a universal office trend, people will have less opportunity to personalise their office environment, especially when it comes to desks. In fact, the personal ownership of a desk runs counter to many an agile working strategy. However, many of the first ABW offices, several years on, appear now to be rather sterile and soulless. An example of an organisation meeting this challenge is the communication agency The Truth in Gothenburg, Sweden, are letting their creatives have their personal art on the walls and also sell the art. Thus, the room can be designed or decorated by employees, but desks, tables or chairs will be common property. Creating a shared and personalised workplace culture for a growing number of progressive organisations is the goal.

42

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY CREATE CULTURE THROUGH PERSONALISATION In the same way that architects change the use of buildings, designers are increasingly building furniture and products from found or upcycled objects and materials. This approach is evermore relevant for a more sustainable world.

→ BY BRINGING IN USER GROUPS INTO THE DESIGN PROCESS, COMPANIES CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND NEEDS AND ENCOURAGE CONTRIBUTION ←

THE CO-CREATED WORKPLACE IN OSLO

Co-creation

When Kinnarps Norway refurbished its new workplace environment in Eiksmarka, Oslo, it decided to work according to Kinnarps’ version of the Activity Based Workplace concept, the Next Office. All co-workers were involved to analyse their activities, where these were done best and how much time was spent on them each day, week and month. Using this methodology, the colleagues could come to conclusions regarding the needs of different settings and work areas. Choosing an Activity Based Workplace is not just an interior design project, but a longterm project for change, where a balance of the private and social, meetings and individual work as well as concentration and dialogue is the goal. It was therefore important to use the Kinnarps workplace as a space for studying the effects of the concept, where of course the satisfaction of building something together is one of these effects.

→ WE HAVE CREATED AN ACTIVITY BASED WORKPLACE SUITED JUST FOR US, LEADING TO AN OFFICE THAT FITS US BOTH AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A GROUP. THIS MEANS INTERIOR DESIGN WITH A HOLISTIC ERGONOMICS SOLUTION, FUNCTIONAL, FLEXIBLE SPACES AS WELL AS ATTRACTIVE DESIGN AND COLOUR COMBINATIONS. THE SOLUTION HAS MADE US MORE STRUCTURED IN OUR WORK, SINCE WE NOW THINK MORE ABOUT WHAT ENVIRONMENT WE CHOOSE DEPENDING ON WHAT TASK WE WANT TO TAKE ON. ON A WHOLE, THIS GIVES US MORE VARIATION TO OUR DAYS, AND WE BECOME MORE SOCIAL SINCE WE OFTEN MEET EACH OTHER IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF SITUATIONS AND SPACES. ←

LIV TVETER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KINNARPS NORWAY

43

HACKER CULTURE GOES CRAFT PUNK DESIGN

Co-creation

Hacking for better function Radical openness is the growing ground for a vivid grassroot maker and hacker culture, where the people driving it develop tools and platforms to make, remake and reshape their own and others’ products or designs. Hacker culture has long been limited to traditionally virtual spaces, but with the rise of 3D-printers, hackers and makers have never before had such momentum to connect both digital and physical worlds.

This type of so-called Craft Punk Design has the potential to create a great power shift in tomorrow’s markets. Within this design movement, consumers sponsor new ideas and buy the products generated from crowdsourced ideas, making it possible for them to take part of the journey from idea to production and match demand with supply. So far, many Craft Punk Design initiatives and projects are being implemented on major digital communities but in minor designs, such as Threadless and Etsy. Threadless is a creative community – and a fast growing multi-million dollar company – that makes, supports and buys work from artists.

Users vote for their favourite T-shirts, the creator of the most popular design receives funding and a batch of T-shirts are produced and sold through the website.

Etsy unites creative people who make and sell homemade DIY-craft, such as jewellery and knitwear. The product providers on Etsy create their goods on demand, with the possibility of individual tailoring. In August 2013, 5.5 million goods were on this digital market place.

44

↘

The main breakthrough in DIY-production and distribution is however the 3D-printer, where anyone can design and print their own BREAKING physical objects, or download someone else’s POINT IN DIYdesign for printing. 3D-printing is still in its PRODUCTION AND infancy, with individuals and corporations experimenting with the possibilities the DISTRIBUTION IS technology entails. Retailers and producers HOWEVER THE are figuring out the opportunities and threats around this new technology, which opens 3D-PRINTER, up for even more tailoring and personalised WHERE ANYONE products as well as threats where design CAN DESIGN AND sketches are feared to be hacked and spread illegally to the masses.

PRINT THEIR

THE MAIN

OWN PHYSICAL OBJECTS.

Also, hacking culture has reached new heights when it comes to the physical world in the form of buildings. New buildings need performance strategies to meet the expectations and requirements of tomorrow’s tenants. But, existing buildings may pose even more interesting

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY LET EXISTING BEHAVIOUR LEAD We should design products based on insight into how people actually behave in their workplace environment. Opportunities exist in design based on an in-depth understanding of the workplace culture and the nature of the business.

HAVE DIFFERENT USES IN MIND Designers of interiors and products should draw on experience of how design can be subverted by individuals, and embrace this.

Products and spaces can be designed with an open-ended approach that allows for a number of different uses. This can be a high risk approach but is ultimately also a great gain if done right.

opportunities, as shifting demographics, technology and ageing building stock open opportunities to actively evolve yesterday’s buildings in staying relevant and up-to-date. For instance, Gensler’s Los Angeles office selected a building designed in 1971 for a bank branch at City National Plaza that had been vacant for nine years. Numerous sustainability and design strategies successfully turned an outdated structure into a dynamic, high-performance work environment. Gensler also hacked the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington D.C. and proposed a series of changes to open up the building to the public.

This included adding new windows, internal atriums, public plazas and entrances.

This re-appropriation of buildings, changing their use from their original purpose, is something relevant also on a smaller scale, particularly where workplace design is concerned and individuals hack places or objects to suit their needs. After all, we often see well intentioned and thoroughly designed workplaces being used in ways not anticipated by their creators. On one hand, break-

UPCYCLE DESIGNS In the same way that architects change the use of buildings, designers are increasingly building furniture and products from found or upcycled objects and materials. This approach is evermore relevant for a more sustainable world.

out areas may be left unused for long periods because they are too public, or that this sort of lounging runs counter to the company’s culture.

On the other, collaboration spaces, such as the work pods in places like Google Zürich, are popular for focused solitude rather than the meetings for which they were intended. We are living in an age where life hacking, whether it be creating new ways of using an object or space, is becoming more accepted and these hacks can help create insight into how places and products should really be designed.

45

HOME SWEET HOME

MICRO-MULTINATIONALS HOW OUR CONNECTED LIVES GIVE WAY TO MORE INDIVIDUAL CONNECTIONS

Borderlessness distinguishes the modern workforce, with people constantly moving from one place to another and the task at hand being accessible through the virtual cloud across continents and countries.

This drives a change where the growth of independent workers – freelancers, the self-employed, consultants and contractors – reflects an entrepreneurial surge of start-ups and sole proprietorships. In search of supportive places to work beyond home offices and Internet cafÊs, this brings the emergence of a new category of workspace, and design will follow suit.

THE LIQUID WORKLIFE A workforce in constant flow In physics, a state of matter is one of the distinct forms that matter takes on – ranging from solid to liquid to gas to plasma. In our digitised world, with a creative class on the rise, the way we work has gone from a more solid form to a liquid state, with information flowing like a steady stream of ideas through digital waterways.

During the last decade a number of companies have introduced different schemes for co-creation and a collaborative economy, which has encouraged this liquid worklife for better and for worse. The pros are clearly increased flexibility and a broad talent pool on one hand.

Cons are that this new type of flowing workforce is more unpredictable and very fast moving. However, the liquid workforce, with all its ups and downs, is shaping our society, and design solutions must be developed to meet the needs of the multi-micronational talent.

However, even if the workforce is becoming more based on small units, people will still wish to be part of a social context, and addressing this with innovative

CREATING SPACES ANYWHERE AND AT ANYTIME IS KEY

49

Micro-multinationals

This is not only true for bigger organisations, where co-workers have more freedom to do their tasks from where they want, but leading the way in this micromultinational movement are small initiatives and enterprises, from freelancers to entrepreneurs, who overtake big organisational structures, leading to co-working and alternative workspaces. Due to this, mainstream offices are becoming downsized, and coworking spaces and cafés with free wifi are becoming even more popular.

design could be a win-win for everyone. IBM’s Beehive Social Network is an example of a solution: An internetbased social networking site that gives IBM co-workers a richer connection to the people they work with both professionally and personally.

Micro-multinationals

THE CAFÉ CO-WORKER “Where has the workforce gone?”

– one could ask when entering a modern office space. In fact, the workforce is there, at the same time as it isn’t. For several reasons the trend of the micro-multinationals is rooted in the ability to move through different spaces and challenge those boundaries that previously had people sit behind desks. There has been a constant increase in the number of remote working opportunities and this will only continue to escalate. In 2013, 3.3 million people in the USA were working remotely, and this number does not include the self-employed or unpaid volunteers. Studies also demonstrate that remote working is a main driver in employee empowerment, motivation and productivity. Gallup found that remote workers are more engaged than employees who work on-site.

Working in the virtual world with colleagues in other functions, locations, business units and cultures will be tomorrow’s normal.

Remote work offers a more versatile environment, increased control over work-life balance, varied working hours, reduced stress, no commute and enhanced knowledge of technology. However, there is a need for platforms and structures that allow and support co-creation between these co-workers without borders. Design can be that support. For instance, Citizen Space in San Francisco has a Google-like atmosphere – open workspaces

50

→ I THINK AND HOPE THAT THE WORKPLACE OF THE FUTURE WON’T BE A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE FEEL ISOLATED. I LIKE THE IDEA THAT A WORKPLACE IS A KIND OF COMMUNITY. ←

LUCA NICHETTO, DESIGNER, LUCA NICHETTO DESIGN STUDIO

with perks like a kitchen and living room area geared toward solopreneurs, consultants, and small teams of up to four people. Another example is how START in Houston attracts people from a range of industries, by focusing on technology. START hosts professional and business development events and workshops, and has industry mentors available to its members.

GIVING FREEDOM TO MORE FREELANCERS

Creating workspace has always been part and parcel of management, making sure that the employees have the best conditions for the work task at hand. As workspaces become virtual, this creates new design challenges – managing someone sitting in the home or at a café demands a holistic approach to both the analogue and virtual world.

Established organisations that have a high proportion of freelancers have an interesting challenge in the way their space is designed and managed so that their corporate brand and culture are maintained. Designers have the opportunity to create spaces that allow a freelance culture to grow whilst maintaining the brand of the host company.

Micro-multinationals

With the emergence of the micro-multinationals and a liquid-like workforce, more job insecurity and precarious working emerges as well. The term “the precariat” has been used to describe a group that has insecure labour, getting in and out of jobs, often with incomplete contracts or forced into indirect labour relationships via agencies or brokers. Britain, for instance, has seen a rise in self-employment, as much as 10% from the beginning of the economic crisis to 2013, and the number of employed people in the country fell by 434,000, according to the Office of National Statistics. As many as 42% of the self-employed do not work from home.

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY

→ THE FUTURE WORKPLACE WILL NOT NECESSARILY INCLUDE AN EMPLOYER. ←

PETRUS PALMÉR, CO-FOUNDER, FORM US WITH LOVE

The precariat is not necessarily a blue-collar working class. They come from all strands of society, not least the educated. Still they feel left out in many aspects and this class of professionals may become a source for major change. They may turn their backs on major organisations, developing new, and possibly subversive, organisations. Together, the precariat may become a multinational movement in itself, which demands its own design to be able to work efficiently across virtual and geographical borders.

51

29% WORK FROM HOME AT LEAST ONE DAY A WEEK.

HOME SWEET OFFICE HOME The new liquid way to work is characterised by globalisation, digitalisation and outsourcing.

Working in a virtual world with colleagues in other functions, locations, business units and cultures is becoming more common and is basically allowing for people to ’go home’. At the same time many workplaces seem to be transforming into leisureinspired areas by combining exercise areas that allow for relaxed social gatherings, kitchens and space for informal meetings.

At architecture and design firm Woods Bagot’s Sydney studio, warm timber, planting and statement lights bring a residential feel, while a kitchen-style bench provides another space for collaborative work. At a glance it’s clear that the office is becoming increasingly like

5 52

the home. And the question one must ask is how this will affect the way professionals working in these types of environments will start to perceive both the home and the office. It wouldn’t be farfetched to suggest that those working from home will be keen on decorating in a way that would support their work efforts and vice versa.

However, governments have started to regulate how and when working in the home is accepted. In Germany, the Labour Ministry has stepped in to regulate calls from superiors after hours, in order to protect wellbeing of staff. In France, a similar proposal from labour unions suggested to ban e-mails after working hours. Banning technology during certain hours is a symbolic attempt to make sure that the other side of the worker –

→ MOST PEOPLE CAN MAKE THEIR HOMES SO COMFORTABLE, COOL AND WELCOMING IN AN AFFORDABLE WAY SINCE RETAILERS HAVE ALLOWED US TO ACHIEVE THAT. THE OFFICE HAS TO KEEP UP, BECAUSE WHAT YOU DON’T WANT IS A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE CHOOSE TO WORK FROM HOME JUST BECAUSE THEIR OFFICE IS AN UNCOMFORTABLE PLACE. PEOPLE WANT THEIR WORKPLACES TO OFFER THE SAME COMFORT THAT THEY WOULD HAVE AT HOME, BE A PLACE TO STORE THEIR STUFF, ALLOW PERSONAL SPACE AND CREATE A COMMUNITY. ←

WAYNE HEMINGWAY, FOUNDER, HEMINGWAY DESIGN

Micro-multinationals

the citizen – won’t end up in need of support, causing strain on the public well-fare system.

Another aspect of working from home is the space it creates. For example, if office tenants used 20% less of the current office space in the USA, which has a total valuation of $1.25 trillion, the decrease in demand would represent $250 billion in excess office capacity.

To meet this new work landscape of choice, many organisations are formalising “alternative workplace” programs that combined nontraditional work practices, settings and locations, according to a recent benchmarking study. Also, facility management indicates that 32% of their employees would be considered mobile workers, where mobile workers spend 50% or less time in the workplace, and 29% of their employees work from home at least one day a week in 2013 compared to 17% three years ago.

Hitting the sweet spot in making the best of design opportunities for a home sweet home office will include all aspects of meshing domestic design and traditional office design into new solutions.

53

DESIGNING FOR CORPORATE CULTURE IN A DISINTEGRATED WORK ENVIRONMENT

THE POP-UP WORKPLACE Micro-multinationals

More and more of us are, or will be, working in both non-traditional ways and places, including from home, and in a local and global manner. As we become more mobile, the need for traditional office space will shrink even further leaving many buildings sitting idle. 69% of global facility managers, architects and designers anticipate that employers should provide employees more options for working from home. Thus Alternative Workplace Arrangement (AWA) has been introduced. Work space for employees working from home will be both a challenge and an opportunity. In the future, perhaps employers will need to offer ergonomic furniture even for remote workers.

69% 54

OF GLOBAL FACILITY MANAGERS, ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS ANTICIPATE THAT EMPLOYERS SHOULD PROVIDE EMPLOYEES MORE WORK-AT-HOME OPTIONS.

A challenge in this development is keeping together corporate culture. Even if the ability of third place working – the home, a café or a library – does empower many people, the possible lack of interaction on a regular basis might threaten the corporate culture, or even refrain it to become one. This was one of the reasons why Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer in 2013 banned

→ THE DANGER WITH ANY SEARCH FOR FLEXIBILITY, OPEN STRUCTURES AND CHOICE TO WORK WHERE YOU WANT IS THAT YOU CAN RISK LOSING THE CULTURE AND IDENTITY OF THE ORGANISATION OR WORKPLACE. ←

INGRID BACKMAN, DESIGNER & PARTNER, WHITE ARCHITECTS

However, it seems like the pop-up workplace is here to stay. Cafés are turning into places where professionals can work in a fully equipped space, and not be nervous about being thrown out after finishing their coffee, and in some places, its possible to rent rooms to work - thus the role of cafe and co-working space is blurred.

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY Micro-multinationals

any remote or third place working.

Instead, all Yahoo’s employees had to be at the offices, since being together at work has a potential of building a strong and fruitful corporate culture. If the office is a place you want to be at, then people will gather there instead of remote places.

THE MICRO-MULTINATIONAL MACRO EFFECT The rise of a micro-multinational approach to work and the affect it has on the office, in the home and everywhere in between brings about new design opportunities that need to focus on creating common platforms through digital solutions, office layouts, new leadership styles, and the incorporation of design.

Also, new places of solitude are being discovered first by individuals and then harnessed by the market. For instance, the demand for workspace is reversing the decline in popularity of public libraries. They are being used less for book lending, and more as a quiet place where students and mobile workers can work in peace. The traditional reading room experience is revived with wifi, power outlets and coffee machines. Our new, global and local office has many, unexpected rooms for work, but they all seem to work for the micro-multinational.

55

56

lorem ipusum

A CO-WORKING COMMUNITY Supporting micro-multinationals with creative cores To effectively redesign the workplace one must rethink the way we live and work on much broader level since this era of multi-micronational co-workers is changing the way our society is built. Society is in turn built on community, and those set on designing for co-working do best in focusing on community to attract the diversity that interdisciplinary collaboration requires.

→ WE STRIVE TO BE PROGRESSIVE

Today, there are more than 500 co-working locations in the USA and some 1,300 worldwide. Most people don’t need a desk at all times. The leverage of desk and equipment sharing means that 72% of co-working spaces are profitable after two years. In Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, four large but non-competing companies developed Grid70 as a shared design hub that gives each a creative boost. The Impact Hub consists of open co-working spaces in more than 60 cities globally, where entrepreneurs come together for social interaction as well as for co-working and co-creation.

CONSTANT. THE ABILITY TO ADAPT TO

During the last decade a number of companies have introduced different schemes for co-creation and collaborative economy. However, the initiative is still mainly grassroot. People are using powerful technologies, including social networks, mobile devices, and mobile payment systems to connect. In all cases, they’re getting what they need from each other, rather than from inefficient corporations. This peer-to-peer commerce economy is enabling the crowd to become like a company, disrupting traditional business models.

WORKING IN A CHALLENGING WAY TO FIND NEW SOLUTIONS, SOMETHING WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY IN A WORLD WHERE CHANGE IS THE ONLY NEW CONDITIONS IS MORE IMPORTANT

Micro-multinationals

Also, the government is investing in co-working as it looks to spur economic growth. Chicago’s newly opened “1871”, designed by Gensler, is a non-profit collaborative tech hub that’s partly supported by a $2.3 million grant from the State of Illinois and caters to the city’s unique breed of socially active tech start-ups. But not only does this support apply to co-working hubs. We also see major companies such as Proctor & Gamble or Lego, who also collaborate with independent workers for ideation and product development, do the same.

AND CREATIVE. WE ARE USED TO

THAN EVER, BOTH FOR US AND OUR CUSTOMERS. ←

PAULINA LUNDSTRÖM, MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, KINNARPS

DESIGN OPPORTUNITY ENCOURAGING UNIQUE UNITS The increase in demand for co-working space drives design opportunities in the way they are designed for specific tasks or industries. These spaces should not be generic, but should reflect the brand of each micro-multinational business unit, encourage networking and support the tasks they do.

57

OUR DESIGN JOURNEY AHEAD

lorem ipusum

In these pages, we’ve delved into the technologies, behaviours, structures and demographics that are significant in this forthcoming diverse decade to discover the possibilities that our new worklife landscape gives way to.

We’ve explored what we call Techiture and how the relationship between technology and architecture make offices seemingly disappear. We’ve discussed the topic of how our digital world will impact how we collaborate on every level. We’ve thought about how wellness is the new green and how psychology is becoming increasingly important to design for both introvert and extrovert minds. We’ve shared our inspiration around hacker culture and craft punk design and how this influences and disrupts. From office biology to micro-multinationals, these are only a few things that lie ahead.

We live in an exciting time, and it is most certainly time to take a good look at the working environments with new eyes, and dare to rethink from a new perspective - with diversity as a starting point. Working together, bridging the silos of technology, architecture, psychology and physiology will be the core of creating modern workplaces and lifespaces in the diverse decade of inclusive design.

ABOUT KINNARPS Kinnarps is a Swedish interior design company that offers innovative and inspiring total solutions for working environments. Today we are a European leader in our industry and are represented in more than 40 countries all over the world. Our starting point is sustainability, wellbeing and prosperity for those using the working environments we design, in different types of workspaces. We are in control of the entire process, from concept to production, distribution and installation, to achieve maximum efficiency and top quality with the lowest possible environmental impact. We bring with us the expertise, experience and tradition from over 70 years in the industry. We also work continually to analyse which trends will have an impact on the working environments of tomorrow. All for the best possible results on your behalf. A workplace where your employees are happy and your business prospers. In other words, we believe in making life better at work.

REFERENCES: Books: Cain, S. (2012). Quiet : The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. New York, Crown Publishers.

Knight. C. (2013). Mad Women: Herstory of Advertising. Olika Förlag.

Plumbe, C et al. (2010) Innovating with People – The Business of Inclusive Design. Norwegian Design Council; 1st edition Sandberg, S. (2013). Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Standing, G. (2011). The Precariat : The New Dangerous Class. London, Bloomsbury Academic.

Articles: Fischer, Nicolas Gustave et al. 2004. Effect of the Self schema. Journal of Environmental Psychology. Vol 24, Issue 1, pp. 131-140.

Guidaa, A et al. (2009). The personalisation method applied to a working memory task: Evidence of long-term working memory effects. European Jounal of Environmental Psychology. Vol 21, Issue 6, pp. 862-896.

Research papers: Leesman Index October 2014 - 70,306 respondents

Links: www.gov.uk/government/news/four-generation-workplaces-on-the-rise-as-report-revealsthe-future-of-work www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aging_in_the_American_workforce www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2014/03/24/prepare-for-4g-agediverse-workforce-now-cipd-urges-employers.aspx

www.hbr.org/2009/09/the-female-economy www.economist.com/node/6800723 www.fortune.com/2014/07/08/women-ceos-fortune-500-1000/ www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX4xFjZPezA www.idrc.ocad.ca/index.php/about-the-idrc/49-resources/online-resources/articles-andpapers/443-whatisinclusivedesign www.pwc.co.uk/en_UK/uk/human-resource-services/issues/the-rising-cost-ofabsence-sickbills-cost-uk-businesses-29bn-a-year.jhtml www.theguardian.com/media/2010/aug/07/social-networking-friends-lonely www.berginsight.com/ReportPDF/ProductSheet/bi-globalm2m4-ps.pdf www.ccocouncil.org/site/defining-the-cco.aspx www.web-strategist.com/blog/2014/04/04/graphic-a-timeline-ofcorporations-in-thecollaborative-economy/ www.watson.ibm.com/cambridge/Projects/project2.shtml www.stjohnstreet.net/why-conventional-offices-are-on-the-way-out-andalternative-workspaces-are-on-the-rise/ www.freshbooks.com/blog/2014/01/30/coworking-space-should-you-run-yourbusiness-fromone/ www.business2community.com/human-resources/14-tools-productive-virtualteam0724033#!F88tu www.costar.com/News/Article/Changing-Office-Trends-Hold-Major-Implications-for-FutureOffice-Demand/146580 www.kingscross.impacthub.net/about-us/

IMAGES: Evert F. Baumgardner – National Archives and Records Administration (p 30). iStock (p 13-14, 53), Miscellaneous images Kinnarps.

Illustrations: Elin Svensson – NU Agency AB.

We want to provide you with new perspectives and insights into how the future of work might look and how design plays a role in shaping it. We hope this report will contribute to knowledge and inspiration regarding the changes that working life is currently undergoing.

In our previous report we described eight shifts that we considered to be particularly important. One of the shifts was From Surface Design to Design Thinking. This shift suggested that future workplace design will look very different from today and that successful companies will approach the office design processes in a more scientific way. In our trend research for this report, we decided to further explore this area, since it held many exciting nuances that will undoubtedly have an impact.

Therefore, the main question we asked ourselves, our Kinnarps Trend Team and a number of international experts was: What are the workplace design opportunities of the diverse decade?

We have summarised the thoughts from our Kinnarps Future Lab workshops in five trends: DESIGNING FOR DIVERSITY – How design must meet the needs of the many OFFICE BIOLOGY – How our work environment is adapting to our minds and bodies TECHITURE – How analogue and digital architecture create the new workplace CO-CREATION IN THE MASS-COLLABORATION ERA – How we collaborate without borders MICRO-MULTINATIONALS – How our connected lives give way to more individual connections These five trends will in many ways fundamentally change our work lives, each and every day, and smart design will be a key to creating workplaces and lifespaces tailored for the diverse decade.

Read more about Kinnarps Trend work at: www.kinnarps.com/trend