Humans have a fundamental need for order in their lives – and workplaces often seem very, very disordered. Piles here and there, of papers and boxes, mingle with sweaters and extra shoes, and collections of stuff that will make archeologists swoon.
So, there’s no better time than now to plan in workplace storage – lockers, drawers and anything else that can help organize the often chaotic workplaces where employees find themselves.
First, a few cautions.
Well planned storage reduces visual unruliness, but humans are very, very uncomfortable in places that are too stark, where we experience visual complexity levels below those we encountered in the early days of our species when we lived a more basic life, on the savanna, without much in the way of manmade shelter.
Interiors designed by Frank Lloyd Wright generally have the levels of visual complexity that make humans happy, so trying to emulate them, visual complexity-wise, is a good idea. It’s at this level of visual complexity that our mood is best. And, as mentioned regularly in this column, being in a more positive mood has been linked by social scientists to better problem solving, creative thinking, getting along with others and health.
In any work environment, all horizontal surfaces cannot be bare; the objects that are on perennial view need to reinforce the messages that the owner organization is trying to send employees and others about itself and what it values.
Storage that doesn’t block what’s being stored from view has little value, visual complexity wise. It does gather stuff together into a single spot and signals an interest in being organized, both of which are indeed important; but to reap the full benefits of storage, surfaces should block views of whatever is being stored.
The best solution to lots of stuff in a workplace is not to recycle all of it. Workers derive psychological comfort from having many things around themselves that outsiders might consider expendable. Psychological comfort results in lower stress levels, and that leads to more attention being paid to whatever people are being paid to do.
One example: It may not actually be necessary to have a copy of a report from last year printed out, because it is available online. But having that printed copy may be very reassuring if a firm’s computer systems crash regularly and the owner of that report is also often called upon to respond immediately to report-related questions phoned in to him/her from company executives. A second example: even if people don’t have an assigned desk, they may want to keep photos of their family somewhere at their workplace, perhaps in a locker, if they find that looking at those photos buoys up their spirits on stressful days.
Storage needs to be appropriate for whatever is being placed in it as well as how stored items will probably be used (when, where, etc.). Sizing is easy, relatively. Learning about the use of stored materials requires research with employees.
Research done by social scientists clearly indicates the value of ordered workplaces. To start with, studies have directly linked being in places that seem organized with better moods.
Scientists have determined that when we’re in more structured, ordered environments we process information more effectively and we’re better at exercising self-control. When we’re less impulsive we spend more time working on challenging tasks and are more likely to eat healthy foods, for example. Being in a visually cluttered space has been linked to degraded performance on knowledge work type tasks.
Order is important. Workers who feel that they have opportunities to maintain it will use them, and their mental and physical wellbeing, as well as their performance, will benefit.
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.