There is a growing corporate understanding of design's role in achieving innovation, not only for products but also for services. iPod which focuses on the designs and consumer experience can be a perfect match. Today, of course, the nature of work is changing. Among other things, it's more mobile, cognitively complex, team-based, and collaborative, and new generations are entering the workplace. However, the workspace within the corporation still has a long way to become an innovative working environment.
In order to attract Generation X and Y workers, furniture companies tried to come up with different styles of cubicles to encourage thinking, and to increase productivity. "We wanted to challenge notions of cubicle clichés," Ludwig, Steelcase's director of design, says, explaining why the company created such a head-turning and iconoclastic workstation, without even room for a desk or shelves. Instead, it can be used as a comfortable, informal meeting space that takes up the real estate of a traditional cubicle and doesn't require expensive, extensive construction.
According to Knoll's study, the results show that 44% of the time they are at work, employees are away from their assigned desks; 24% of the time they're working, they're in small conference rooms, away from the cubicle, or in a public space (such as a nearby Starbucks (SBUX), for informal meetings). When working in teams, only 14% of those surveyed said their groups met in the same place, suggesting that most employees don't feel an attachment to their assigned cubicles. The data also showed that of the corporations studied, 80% said that they supported group work.

So why should we stick to our small, boring cubicles? WE WANT NEW CUBICLEs!

David Choi

Powered by Bizzcrunch

Labels: Commentary

This entry was posted by David Choi, on Saturday, October 20, 2007. You can leave your response.