A space where we can even work
- To evaluate whether the organisation of spaces by energy levels (high, neutral and low) impacted the choice that participants made of spaces.
- To evaluate whether there was any difference in the choice of space when activities are in groups or individual.
- To understand how different activities alter our perception and choice of the ideal space to carry them out.
We observed that it is important to create spaces which were capable of accommodating different activities and different employees, all with different emotions that vary during the workday. To promote the employee’s autonomy in choosing the spaces that are appropriate to their mood and task, the spaces do not necessarily have to communicate the activities that can take place there. What the spaces have to communicate is what can be found there. For example, noise levels, number of users, available services and equipment, adaptability to tasks, and general way of being.
We concluded that we felt good in a space when we recognised it as our own. For this to occur, the space must meet our expectations and cater for our needs. This does not mean that spaces have to be neutral: on the contrary, they should have well-defined sensory areas so that the mood of the space blends with your emotions.
Easy-to-understand spaces are those that communicate a clear set of rules without the use of a legend or warnings.
They are spaces which use sensory strategies which allow an immediate comprehension of the environment.
We observed that even when people have negative emotions or are subject to more stressful times but have to carry out a team assignment, they realise that the best course of action is to suppress their individual emotion to give way to the best state of mind for the group. Practically speaking, some people with low energy emotions preferred the space which transmitted high energy in order to boost teamwork.
Most people chose different spaces in line with their individual emotional states. But not everyone with positive states of mind chose spaces with high or medium energy. In the same way, not everyone with negative states of mind chose spaces with dimmed light. There were also those who preferred always remaining in the same space, regardless of the type of activity they had to carry out or their state of mind. These people defended their choice, saying that adapting to new and still unfamiliar spaces can take time and be an unnecessary expenditure of energy. Then we conclude that the space must be easy to adapt and quick to appropriate. This means that the materials should all be in plain view and it should not take a person more than a few seconds to grasp the whole place and its potential.
The choice of workspace varies throughout the day, but during the workshop There was no group in which all the people chose the same space simultaneously, which proves that the choice of the ideal workspace is dependent on the emotional state of the employees, as well as on the tasks they have to perform.
It means that if all employees are working in the same workspace at the same time, the probability of them not being comfortable and adapted is high. Their work would be less efficient and less productive.