Panelists (from left) Avinash Rajagopal, editor in chief, Metropolis; Don Weinreich, partner, Ennead Architects; Melissa Marsh, founder of PLASTARC and occupant experience lead, Savills; Darius Sollohub, author of Millennials in Architecture: Generations, Disruption, and the Legacy of a Profession; and Cindy Anzel, associate vice president, HR and operations, The New York Stem Cell Foundation. Courtesy Aislinn Weidele
When making decisions about workplace design, information is everything. Designers and business leaders need to know how employees work, and what kinds of spaces and resources they require to perform at their best. But with myriad ways of collecting data, selecting the right research tools can make subtle and not-so-subtle differences in the results. In a recent Metropolis Think Tank panel discussion hosted by Ennead Architects in New York City, architects and researchers explored new ways to conduct research in buildings, and the idea that having diverse data opens up new design possibilities.
Evaluating and analyzing behavior is not easy, the panelists agreed. Laying out some basics, Ennead partner Don Weinreich explained: “To be good designers and deliver good solutions, we have to be curious.” The questions you ask in research—about each demographic, its behaviors, and its needs— provide the best direction for decision making, rather than preconceived notions about what employees want.
Though direct observation is the most commonly used tool to gather data, monitoring workflow in complex organizations can be a challenge. Finding answers to questions about workplace behavior can include modeling hypothetical scenarios and testing new rules to see how people respond. Data collection requires time to garner and understand that response. “If we’re trying just to use these methods of survey, or observation, or even a database discovery to understand what could be, maybe what we’re observing is how people think they should behave and not how they would best behave to optimize the work for them,” said Melissa Marsh, founder of PLASTARC, a workplace and real estate strategy consultancy.