Rolfo and her colleagues studied the experiences of a company moving from an open-plan to an activity-based workplace. They state that, “Many companies move from open-plan offices (OPO) to activity-based workplaces (ABWs)…The aim of this study was to explore…a company’s relocation from an OPO to an ABW…Results showed that satisfaction with auditory privacy, background noise, air quality, outdoor view and aesthetics increased significantly after relocation. Negative outcomes, such as lack of communication within teams, were perceived as being due to the high people-to-workstation ratio and lack of rules. Overall satisfaction with the physical work environment increased in the ABW compared to the OPO. Perceived performance did not change significantly.” Data were collected at “a large Swedish insurance company that relocated two departments from an OPO to an ABW.”
Linda Rolfo, Jorgen Eklund, and Helena Jahncke. 2017. “Perceptions of Performance and Satisfaction After Relocation to an Activity-Based Office.” Ergonomics, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 644-657, https://doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2017.1398844.
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.