If determinism prevailed, we could be certain that if we built a space that supports a particular type of behavior, desired and consistent space user performance would magically and always ensue. Want people to think more creatively or a group to have a preferred organizational culture? If determinism ruled the day, to achieve these difficult objectives we’d just need to provide workers with a space whose design reflects current research on spaces where people are most likely to think creatively, or an environment where an organization with the valued culture would thrive.
I’ve been hearing deterministic comments at conferences recently, but also, happily, lots of responses to those comments from people who realize that with design, as well as most other things, life is complicated.
You can build a space whose design is consistent with study findings on the form of places where people are most likely to think creatively, but the way people in that place will think and behave is not only related to that design, but also to how their bonuses are calculated and the national and organizational cultures in which they work – just for starters. Design that supports particular activities makes them more probable, but never certain.
Employees spend a lot of time trying to “read” meanings into things that the people who manage them do. They are particularly focused on changes to physical environments because they cost money. Mission and vision statements are easy and cheap to alter. Modifications to physical environments, whether redo’s of current spaces or the construction of entirely new ones, cost money and therefore seem like truer representations of what management actually values and plans. A redesign can give a management desired behavior or way of thinking a jolt of attention from employees. But, people have to learn how to think and act differently, and that only comes over time and in situations where trust is high (which unfortunately is not often the case).
When the non-physical aspects of management desired changes are carefully managed and allowed to proceed at an organization’s natural pace, a related environmental change may ultimately precede the coveted behavioral one. So, if you build it, they will come, because their paychecks depend on it. But they may not do what you want once they arrive unless intangible changes accompany those physical ones.
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.