Oxford Economics surveyed more than 1,200 workers from around the world. They found that, “The ability to focus without interruptions is a top priority for employees when it comes to office design; access to amenities like free food is far less important…Nearly two-thirds of executives say employees are equipped with the tools they need to deal with distractions at work; less than half of employees agree.”
The researchers found that, “Millennials are more likely to say noise distracts them from work, and in general are more annoyed by ambient noise in the office. In fact, they are more likely to take steps – like listening to music or leaving their desks – to drown out noise and to say blocking out distractions increases their productivity and improves their mood.”
Oxford Economics. 2016. “When the Walls Come Down.” https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/my-oxford/projects/336497.
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.