Workspace in transition : rethinking workspace through the design of reconfigurable worksurfaces

Abstract

Communication is an integral part of today's workplace, linking people, objects, and information. Now that knowledge exchange is considered a significant work activity, new technologies have been developed to support communication with people who are On the move. As a result, people can work not only anywhere within the office, but anywhere outside the office as long as access to information is provided. In this new flexible work condition, it is important to create work environments that can accommodate a dynamic relationship between people, physical workspace artifacts, and information. In particular, the study of mobility in modern work is useful when creating a framework for the design of physical workplace artifacts. Furthermore, the design of these artifacts can be beneficial in terms of balancing the complex relationship between people and information through the integration of related communication activities. Based On this idea of merging physical workplace artifacts and information, this thesis creates a conceptual framework for the design of a responsive workplace artifact that links information and related communication activities. It accomplishes this through the use of a deployable and adaptive electronic material for workplace product design. The ultimate goal is the creation of a worksurface that is physically transformable and visually reconfigurable. It is anticipated that this adaptable digital worksurface will have new applications while enriching existing ones, thereby elevating a user's daily work experience as well increasing the amount of activities that can occur in a given space. To achieve this goal, a series of studies were conducted prior to actual design in order to map trends in workplace design with respect to various information display methods. Diverse spatial dimensions in the workplace were identified and subdivided into several categories. Tectonic and digital properties of surface materials were explored to in order to develop worksurfaces that responded to each specific workspace dimension. Finally, functional and spatial applications of the proposed set of design products were illustrated through the creation of diverse spatial scenarios. These simulations were intended to demonstrate possible relationships between the proposed artifacts and visual information, anticipating an effect on communication activity as well as space usage. These scenarios highlight the nomadic characteristics of modern work activity and information transfer through the use of the proposed worksurface products.