The Quest for the Room of Requirement - Why Some Activity-based Flexible Offices Work While Others Do Not
Doktorsavhandling, 2019

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Activity-based working (ABW)

Appropriation and adoption of innovations

Office ergonomics

Activity Theory

Process evaluation

Occupational Health & Safety (OHS)

Workspace design.

Författare

Maral Babapour Chafi

Chalmers, Industri- och materialvetenskap, Design and Human Factors

Inkluderade delarbeten

Appropriation of an Activity-based Flexible Office in Daily Work

Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies,;Vol. 8(2018)p. 71-94

Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift

Babapour, M., Harder, M., & Bodin Danielsson, C. (under review). Users’ workspace preferences in Activity-based Flexible Offices – lessons learned from two case studies. Submitted to Applied Ergonomics.

Manuskript

Babapour, M. (under review). Co-adapting with Office Alterations – Resolving Mismatches between Employees’ Work and Activity-based Flexible Offices. Submitted to Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science.

Manuskript

Populärvetenskaplig beskrivning

Engelska

The ‘Room of Requirement’ is a hidden room in Harry Potter’s school that changes according to what people need and wish for. The room takes on many shapes containing different artefacts and is used for various purposes by single or multiple users; it can be everything from a hiding place to a meeting place. Similarly, Activity-based Flexible Offices (AFOs) provide a variety of workspaces for employees to choose from depending on their activities or preferences. In other words, the intention behind implementing AFOs is to make a ‘Room of Requirement’ that is equipped for people depending on what they need. The difference is that AFOs comprise rooms that are already equipped and do not necessarily change to suit whatever the employees need them to be. The work presented in this thesis examines why some AFOs work while others do not, based on five case studies.
 The findings show that AFOs are not inherently good or bad types of offices. Their design should match individual employees’ needs. First, the desk-sharing rule should be clearly specified and communicated. Second, the workspaces should be designed to match both the activities of the employees and their preferences for wellbeing and enjoyment. Third, collective instruments such as keyboards, mouses and office chairs should be designed for multiple users so that it is easier to switch workstations. Finally, the processes of moving to AFOs and making adjustments after the move are central. When employees do not have individual workstations, time and effort are required for collective customisation of AFOs to create joint ownership of the workspace.

Kategorisering

Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2011)

Produktionsteknik, arbetsvetenskap och ergonomi

Arbetslivsstudier

Design

Arkitektur

Systemvetenskap, informationssystem och informatik med samhällsvetenskaplig inriktning

Miljömedicin och yrkesmedicin

Drivkrafter

Hållbar utveckling

Styrkeområden

Building Futures (2010-2018)

Produktion

Identifikatorer

ISBN

978-91-7905-109-9

Övrigt

Serie

Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 4576

Utgivare

Chalmers

Examination

2019-04-26 13:00

Virtual Development Laboratory (VDL), Chalmers Tvärgata 4 - 6, Göteborg

Opponent: Assistant Professor Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, Department of Architecture, Building and Planning at Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2020-04-23