TPD4144 Design 6 – Spring 2023
Service design, Figma
For the course D6 - Fremtider we collaborated with AFRY Ark Studio, an architect firm who were working on a project for NTNU. When NTNU are moving campus, there will be less space for the employees, and AFRY are working with new office solutions to fit all the employees.
One of the issues that AFRY experienced, was that the employees did not understand how the proposed offices spaces would work, and they were scared that the moving into these spaces would disturb their everyday tasks. This was the issue that we were trying to solve.
Process
To get an understanding of why the employees were skeptical of the proposed solutions, we attended “Campusdagene”. Here the architects talked about the projects, and the employees could express their opinions. It was interesting to observe the dynamic between the architects and the employees, and some of the key takeaways from this experience was this:
The employees' experience is that they are not being heard and that the architects don't understand what they need.
The language used creates misunderstandings. An example was when the architects explained that they studied mobility of different employees and what kind of needs they had, they were met with critique from the audience because they perceived it as ignoring the individual needs and creating stereotypes. Many employees explained that they had a need for a personal office, while the architects talked about a personal office as a solution for different needs, and not a need in itself.
The relationship between the architects and some employees are hostile, and it makes it hard for the architects to get positive responses. The architects creates solutions based on a set of constrains that is decided by politicians and project managers, however this is poorly communicated to the employees who directs their critique towards the architects.
During "Campusdagene" the project managers and architects talked about the status of the project and showed some of the proposed solutions.
“You can't tell us how to do our job”
"We are not stereotypes!"
We conducted interviews with employees using a semi-structured interview method. They started by describing their role, work and how they used their office space in general. Later we dug deeper into subjects that were especially relevant for our project, before we asked specific questions in the end.
From the interviews we found that many shared offices had different cultures and habits for how to use the space. This affected how satisfied the employees were. When we asked about concerns and wishes if they were to move to a new office space. The subjects mentioned that they would hope to have a close follow-up and that it would be helpful to simulate the new office in some way, to be able to experience how they are able to do their everyday work.
We conducted interviews with participants of different groups that the architects used to get feedback and develop solutions that meet the needs of the employees. Some of the participants didn't really understand why they where in the groups, and how they were supposed to represent all the other employees. They explained that they often found it difficult to understand the architects when they showed sketches and figures.
“We only saw bubbles and didn't understand why because buildings are rectangular”
The architects used language and figures that were common among other architects. However, the people without an architectural background had a hard time understanding how figures like the one above could relate to their office space.
To collect all the information we had gathered, we mapped out the user journey from the beginning of the project, when the employees are notified of the moving, to the end when employees are working in the new offices. We identified the pain points for every step and ideas to solve the issues.
We described the most common issues for the steps to be able to develop a comprehensive solution
The solution
After working with the project for quite some time, it became clear that in order for the employees to be happy in a new office environment, they would have to be included in the entire process. We worked out a four-step solution.
1. A strategy to ensure the employees' influence that focuses on clear communication. You can find it here.
2. A simulation to test out proposed office solutions where the goal is to show employees how they can use the office space in their day to day work. Test it out here.
3. An individual mapping of work habits and employees needs to make use of the new office spaces in the best way for every employee. You can find it here.
4. A clarification of expectations between employees that share office space for them to agree on what culture and habits that works best for them. You can find it here.