Research Design Connections: Managing Open-Plan Office Noise
Research by Mueller and colleagues confirms the challenges of managing noise in open-plan offices. They share that “Office workers lately use active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones to improve the acoustic situation by blocking unwanted sound. . . . Two studies were conducted to examine if ANC headphones improve cognitive performance and the subjective well-being of employees in an open-plan office. . . . The participants were tested in silence, speech without headphones, speech with ANC headphones switched off and speech with ANC headphones switched on. No statistically significant differences were found between the conditions with ANC headphones switched on and off as well as without headphones for cognitive performance. However, ANC headphones statistically significantly improved subjective assessments such as perceived privacy and the assessment of the acoustic environment.” Benjamin Mueller, Andreas Liebl, Noemi Herget, Dorina Kohler, and Philip Leistner. “Using Active Noise-Cancelling (ANC) Headphones in Open-Plan Offices: No Influence on Cognitive …
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