Research Design Connections: Creativity in ABWs 

by Sally Augustin, Ph.D. | June 5th, 2023

Yekanialibeiglou and colleagues link working in ABW (which they call activity-based offices or ABOs) and enhanced employee creativity.  The researchers learned via “case studies of three ABOs. . . . that privacy, noise level, and a distraction‐free environment were the main factors supporting employees’ individual creativity, as were open spaces with zones for different levels of noise and private enclosed spaces. For group creativity, the significance of providing suitable equipment and furniture in ABOs was observed – collaborative and disengaged spaces were found to be the recurring spaces for group creativity.”   Yekanialibeiglou, H. Demirkan, and L. Denti. 2021. “Enhancing Creativity in Activity-Based Offices:  A Critical Incident Study of Knowledge Workers.”  Creativity and Innovation Management, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 763-782, https://doi.org/10.1111/caim.12464 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 …