A comment I’ve made at several international design conferences recently has really resonated with my audiences. At each event, I’ve pointed out that although in the last few hundred generations humans have developed all sorts of cool tools, our brains have remained much the same and continue to process information and respond to the world around us in the same ways they did when we were a new species, just starting out. Spaces that would have made it more likely that we’d be relaxed or tense in our prehistory continue to affect us in the same ways today, for example, whether those responses are caused by things we see, hear, smell, taste or touch, or because of the way our sensory experiences interact to jointly affect us.
Research shows that we communicate a lot via scents that our bodies generate and that we’re not consciously aware of. We share a great deal of information with each other via the way we smell. These silent smell-based messages, indicating confidence, social bonds, moods, and a range of other things, are the reason that in-person conversations remain important for establishing relationships and when important decisions need to be made. With the technology that currently exists, we can’t really be sure what someone else is “saying” unless we’re co-present.
Designers should consider the potential responses of chipmunks to any place being developed. Like humans, chipmunks are social animals. Like the early humans who roamed the earth, the only way that chipmunks can keep from being eaten by creatures higher on the food chain is to be vigilant. Would a chipmunk flourish in a seat that exposes his/her back to passersby? Probably not, and that means that people won’t either. Some seats in a workplace may need some sort of plant barrier behind them or to be used only on an intermittent basis or be assigned to newer employees or others who don’t need to concentrate as much on the work that they’re generally doing, for example – but no chipmunk vital to the mission of an organization should sit with an exposed back; it’s too distracting.
Chipmunks enjoy being in spaces where they feel secure but have a view out over the world around them. And people excel at knowledge work in these sorts of environments, as well. Spaces seem secure when they have solid walls on several sides and/or are elevated, for example. Seats in mezzanines and in niches cut into hallways or larger rooms provide these sorts of views, for example. These types of spaces provide the “prospect and refuge” discussed so frequently during conversations about biophilic design.
Complex/busy patterns on vertical planes/walls make it harder for chipmunks to spot approaching danger, and they up the energy levels of modern humans, often to intensities too high for effective knowledge work. Put the same patterns in hallways, however, and they’ll keep people walking along briskly, which is generally a good thing.
Even the desirable repercussions of humans having comfortable levels of control over their physical environment are like chipmunks’. It’s great to have options and to be able to customize a space by expanding a nest or customizing the lighting for the task at hand, but having to make too many choices is stressful. Presenting users with a carefully curated set of choices that aligns with the probable uses of a space is the best way to go.
Asking yourself how a chipmunk might respond to a space may seem silly, but places where chipmunks live their best lives are the sorts of spaces where humans perform to their full potential as well.
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.