”Too many interruptions during the morning and time for work in the afternoon” – waves gives words to the experience of the work day

Abstract

In a Danish workspace design context there is no tradition of creating a common picture of the client and their way of working as a platform for the discussion of needs and design solutions in the predesign phase. Inspired by the process architecture and the design game of participatory design, the intention in this study, executed in close collaboration with an architect ́s office, was to develop a model for the predesign phase. It was the intention to create a common picture of the public organization Human Resources, HR. Later, this study was included as a case in a PhD project on dialogue-oriented mapping of space and activity in office space. The HR-management aimed for an open office design in order to support knowledge sharing and teamwork, while the employees wished for cell-offices. The video material from the observations of four informants during their work day in the office space became a starting point for the making of a graphic video log. This log registers changes in activity and use of space during the observation. This work resulted in the definition of the concept of waves. The larger the size of the wave ́s amplitude, the more consistent periods of work, whilst the smal- ler the size of the wave ́s amplitude, the higher presence of shifts in activity. During a dialogue-based workshops the informants and the entire organization was involved in describing the wave motions respectively. This article presents the development of the concept of waves and the wave motion as a type of boundary objects, which can be used to describe and articulate the experience of the work day and its rhythm. The concept of waves encompasses both a specific time segment and the relation bet- ween various work activities. This correlation is usually neglected in the new office design community. The concept of waves makes it possible to evaluate how the supportive role of space for everyday work. The employees become creators of knowledge and awareness about work practice. The organization gains access to a communal language and an opportunity to a dialogue based on knowledge about what are going on in the office space and how the employees perceive the work day. The employees did already share knowledge, but many of them were disturbed due to shifts in activity caused by telephone calls and informal meetings. This awareness has not previously been present in the organization but it contributed to an understanding of the organization and their work practice which had not been visible before. HR gained an ownership to the waves and chose to implement the concept in their LEAN process. The top management chose to implement an alternative solution to that originally envisioned. The architect firm experienced that the concept of the waves qualifies dialogue between the client and the architect during the design process.