The Office Jungle is an experimental office environment designed to make offices more "wild". Through this demonstration and associated design vision, we make a first attempt to reflect on and to define what characterizes wildness and how it could empower people in more playful and active lifestyles, particularly in the workplace. In our understanding, wildness is not an exclusive property of nature, but rather a condition that can be designed for. How wildness can be designed is described here in a set of design principles called "Design for Wildness", inspired by the work of Gibson. The Office Jungle, a large geodesic sphere of 2 meters in diameter, is part and parcel of these design principles and can be used as a tool to design other wild environments. Such environments could benefit people working in the office, many of whom have been suffering the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle.
DOCUMENT
Light enables us to see and perceive our environment but it also initiates effects beyond vision, such as alertness. Literature describes that at least six factors are relevant for initiating effects beyond vision. The exact relationship between these factors and alertness is not yet fully understood. In the current field study, personal lighting conditions of 62 Dutch office workers (aged 49.7 ± 11.4 years) were continuously measured and simultaneously self-reported activities and locations during the day were gathered via diaries. Each office worker participated 10 working days in spring 2017. Personal lighting conditions were interpreted based on four of the six factors (light quantity, spectrum, timing, and duration of light exposure). Large individual differences were found for the daily luminous exposures, illuminances, correlated colour temperatures, and irradiances measured with the blue sensor area of the dosimeter. The average illuminance (over all participants and all days) over the course of the day peaked three times. The analysis of the duration of light exposure demonstrated that the participants were on average only exposed to an illuminance above 1000 lx for 72 minutes per day. The interpretation of personal lighting conditions based on the four factors provides essential information since all of these factors may be relevant for initiating effects beyond vision. The findings in the current paper give first in-depth insight in the possibilities to interpret personal lighting conditions of office workers.
MULTIFILE
Sensors in offices mainly measure environmental data, missing qualitative insights into office workers’ perceptions. This opens the opportunity for active individual participation in data collection. To promote reflection on office well-being while overcoming experience sampling challenges in terms of privacy, notification, and display overload, and in-the-moment data collection, we developed Click-IO. Click-IO is a tangible, privacy-sensitive, mobile experience sampling tool that collects contextual information. We evaluated Click-IO for 20-days. The system enabled real-time reflections for office workers, promoting self-awareness of their environment and well-being. Its non-digital design ensured privacy-sensitive feedback collection, while its mobility facilitated in-the-moment feedback. Based on our findings, we identify design recommendations for the evelopment of mobile experience sampling tools. Moreover, the integration of contextual data with environmental sensor data presented a more comprehensive understanding of individuals’ experiences. This research contributes to the development of experience sampling tools and sensor integration for understanding office well-being.
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The research, supported by our partners, sets out to understand the drivers and barriers to sustainable logistics in port operations using a case study of drone package delivery at Rotterdam Port. Beyond the technical challenges of drone technology as an upcoming technology, it needs to be clarified how drones can operate within a port ecosystem and how they could contribute to sustainable logistics. KRVE (boatmen association), supported by other stakeholders of Rotterdam port, approached our school to conduct exploratory research. Rotterdam Port is the busiest port in Europe in terms of container volume. Thirty thousand vessels enter the port yearly, all needing various services, including deliveries. Around 120 packages/day are delivered to ships/offices onshore using small boats, cars, or trucks. Deliveries can take hours, although the distance to the receiver is close via the air. Around 80% of the packages are up to 20kg, with a maximum of 50kg. Typical content includes documents, spare parts, and samples for chemical analysis. Delivery of packages using drones has advantages compared with traditional transport methods: 1. It can save time, which is critical to port operators and ship owners trying to reduce mooring costs. 2. It can increase logistic efficiency by streamlining operations. 3. It can reduce carbon emissions by limiting the use of diesel engines, boats, cars, and trucks. 4. It can reduce potential accidents involving people in dangerous environments. The research will highlight whether drones can create value (economic, environmental, social) for logistics in port operations. The research output links to key national logistic agenda topics such as a circular economy with the development of innovative logistic ecosystems, energy transition with the reduction of carbon emissions, societal earning potential where new technology can stimulate the economy, digitalization, key enabling technology for lean operations, and opportunities for innovative business models.
Many companies struggle with their workplace strategy and corporate real-estate strategy, especially when they have a high percentage of knowledge workers. How to balance employee satisfaction and productivity with the cost of offices.This project focused on developing methods and tools to design customer journeys and predict the impact of investments and changes on user satisfaction with the work environment. The tools, including a game and simulation tool, allowed to focus on the needs of particular subgroups of employees while at the same time keeping an overview on the satisfaction and perceived productivity of all employees and guests. We applied Quality Function Deployment techniques to understand how needs of different types of users of (activity-based) office environments can catered for in smart customer-centric office design.
The Healthy Workplace monitor is being developed to monitor the health and well-being of knowledge workers in relation to the office space and their home workplace. Since the corona period, a lot has changed in the way knowledge workers work. Both offices and employees require more flexibility to carry out work in an efficient but also healthy and enjoyable way. It is important to identify office workers needs with regard to workspaces at the office and at home from a holistic view, in which mental , physical and social aspects play a role. A vital, happy employee is a productive employee.
