Research Design Connection: ABW – Implications

Engelen and her colleagues reviewed published research to identify the implications of activity-based working (ABW). They determined that “ABW has positive merits in the areas of interaction, communication, control of time and space, and satisfaction with the workspace; however, it is unfavourable for concentration and privacy. For physical and mental health, the evidence is equivocal.”

Lina Engelen. Josephine Chau, Sarah Young, Martin Mackey, Dheepa Jeyapalan and Adrian Bauman. “Is Activity-Based Working Impacting Health, Work Performance and Perceptions? A Systematic Review.” Building Research and Information, in press, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2018.1440958

Sally Augustin, PhD,a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.