Align director Gurvinder Khurana leads me into Mendeley’s user testing room. It’s actually a pair of rooms designed for observing software testing, which the online collaboration platform, which describes itself as a social network for academics, previously hired out externally.
Having the facility onsite has provided it not only with extra meeting space, but apparently saved money and allowed it to raise its profile by inviting in the public. “We made a really conscious decision to go playful so that it was relaxing; we wanted to take away from the fact that you’re being watched,” Khurana continues. Not so sinister after all.