User Effective Buildings explains how a developer, Aardex, was able to tie user productivity to the performance of the building.  Aardex is among a handful of developers who not only believe that better buildings improve performance but have documented and demonstrated the financial benefits and impact of "user effective buildings."  You can download the PDF of this book from their website or from the User Effective Buildings link. 

 

Center for Building Performance Diagnositics - Carnegie Mellon collects research providing evidence for the positive impact of good design and productivity.

Whole Building Design Guide

 

 

The Green Workplace - to provide links between good design and productivity. 

 

This bibliography provides articles that show the relationship and impact of design and environments on health, productivity and effectiveness.  This list and summaries were provided by Dr Jay Brand.  His research and work is well-known and I encourage those who review this page to offer additional articles and summaries to either these or other articles. 

 

 

Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M., Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I., & Angel, S. (1977). A Pattern language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. New York: Oxford University Press.

 

A classic overview of human-centered considerations for the built environment; volume two in a three-volume work initiated by the Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA; the chapter, "Workplace Enclosure," pp. 846-852, is particularly relevant to the interests of the group.

 

Arny, M. (October, 2003). The Costs and Rewards of Sustainable Design. Today’s Facility Manager, 36-39.

 

“Do LEED-EB buildings have a measurable economic impact?”—yes.

 

Augustin, S., & Wise, J. A. (Winter/Spring, 2000). Savanna to silicon valley: Prehistoric influences on modern office environments. Perspective, 67-72.

 

Explores some of the "background" (outside of awareness) issues involved in ideal office designs that people find stimulating (positive cues).  Topics include lighting, fractal patterns, and other biologically and ecologically relevant issues.

 

(Author). (20 October/15 November, 2003). Ergonomics, 46(13,14).

 

A special issue of the International Ergonomics Association’s (IEA) journal on Hedonomics, defined as “affective human factors design.”  Also addresses “aesthetic ergonomics” and “engineering aesthetics.”

 

(Author). (July 1, 1997). Practices and techniques: The accounting classification of workpoint costs. Statement on Management Accounting No. 4BB; Institute of Management Accountants: Montvale, NJ.

 

Outlines an alternative approach (from occupancy cost approaches) to quantifying the costs of providing work environments.

 

(Author). (January/February, 2004). Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 5(1).

 

A special issue of this journal that addresses the intuitive, emotional aspects of design.  Articles address how to use responses at these levels of experience for product and space design as well as for assessments and evaluations of existing designs.

 

Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American Psychologist, 54, 462-479.

 

Provides evidence that many of the importance influences on human behavior remain outside of awareness; implies that people would not be very good at verbalizing these determinants.

 

Bell, S. J. (1999). Image and consumer attraction to intraurban retail areas: An environmental psychology approach. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 6(2), 67-78.

 

Analysis of data from a mailed questionnaire provided evidence that positive feelings toward shopping areas were associated with an increased willingness by consumers to shop in those areas; furthermore, consumers seemed to rely on “image” to communicate the quality & value of goods & services; finally, perceived quality stores, a wide selection of valuable products, great customer service, and a pleasant environment were factors that attracted consumers.

 

Benedikt, M., & Burnham, C. A. (1985). Perceiving architectural space: From optic arrays to isovists. In W. H. Warren & R. E. Shaw (Eds.), Persistence and change: Proceedings of the first international conference on event perception. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 

A technique that superimposes geometric, 2D & 3D perspectives from the viewpoint of an occupant within/outside the built environment, providing simulated exploration of an occupant's perceptual experience of the space(s); the approach lends itself to comparisons among spaces.

 

Bonettam, L. (2003). Lab architecture: Do you want to work here? Nature, 424(14), 718-720.

 

Provides some support for the notion of designing intentionally for “chance encounters” and informal interaction as an aid to collaboration and employee satisfaction—at least for scientific labs with scientist employees.

Brand, J. L.

 

Environental_Psychology - Article Download - for the full article

 

Title

Effects of control over office workspace on perceptions of the work environment and work outcomes

 

Abstract

Increasingly, workplaces must support rapid technology development and implementation, dynamic organizational changes, and concomitant employee needs for balancing privacy, collaboration and other work processes. Open plan offices have been positioned as providing at least partial solutions to many of these historic and contemporary challenges. However, many problems with open officeshave been documented, such as noise, lack of privacy and other distractions; yet enclosed, private offices hamper communication, teamwork and flexible use of space as well. In an effort to elucidate workers’ perceptions of some of these trade-offs, this study examined the effects of distractions, flexible use of workspace and personal control over the work environment on perceived job performance, job satisfaction, group cohesiveness, and inclinations to work alone or in an enclosed space and their interrelationships. The proposed path model was tested by LISREL 8.54. All fit indices for the model remained within acceptable levels. The results showed that more personal control over the physical workspace (e.g., adjustment) and easy access to meeting places led to higher perceived group cohesiveness and job satisfaction. Contrary to expectation, the results indicated that distractions may have little influence on self-rated performance.

 

Brand, J. L. (May/June, 2003). The architecture of change: New workplace trends drive office space changes. Journal of Property Management, 68(3), 40-44.

Explores the shift from real estate & facility management drivers toward occupant quality and organizational effectiveness in the design & evaluation of office work environments.

 

Brand, J. L. (April, 2001). Do open plan offices work? Proceedings of Facility Forum 2001 (pp. 223-227), Dallas, TX.

 

Based on an historical analysis and recent empirical evidence, argues that many open plan offices do not meet expectations due to an inadequate focus on occupants during the design process.

 

Brand, J. L. (March, 2001). The cognition of creativity. Interiors & Sources, 88-96.

 

Explores recent findings about what people are doing when being creative; suggests implications for organizations interested in being more creative.

 

Brennan, A., Chugh, J. S. & Kline, T. (2002). Traditional versus open office design: A longitudinal field study. Environment and Behavior, 34, 279-299.

 

Evidence that employees do not like moving from private offices to open-plan offices, and this dissatisfaction apparently does not dissipate with time.

 

Brill, M. (April, 1991). The politics & pragmatics of private vs. open offices. Facilities Design & Management, 58-61.

 

"Ongoing arguments about private and open offices is like a burr under the saddle.  How do you remove it without being trampled by workers?"

 

Brill, M., & Weidemann, S. (2001). Disproving widespread myths about workplace design. Jasper, IN: Kimball International.

 

Provides empirical information relevant to a number of mostly untested assumptions about office design, including openness = communication & collaboration; enclosure = lack of communication & isolation; acoustical panels = privacy.

 

Cairns, G. (2002). Aesthetics, morality and power: Design as espoused freedom and implicit control. Human Relations, 55(7), 799-820.

 

A discussion of the distinction between the social and physical environments in work places; although conceptually different, these different environmental levels of abstraction can influence each other.  Since the Hawthorne studies, most research has explored the importance of the social environment on worker performance, but more recently, designers have explored empowering workers through giving them more control over their physical environment.  All the implications of this shift are not yet known.

 

Carrere, C. & Evans, G. W. (1994). Life in an isolated and confined environment. Environment and Behavior, 26, 707-741.

 

Investigated stress levels and other responses to cramped environments.

 

Charness, N., & Dijkstra, K. (1999). Age, luminance, and print legibility in homes, offices, and public places. Human Factors, 41, 173-193.

 

Observed light levels used in different areas by different age groups.

 

Chi, C.-F., & Lin, F.-T.  (1998).  A comparison of seven visual fatigue assessment techniques in three data-acquisition VDT tasks. Human Factors, 40, 577-590.

 

Ways to measure visual fatigue.

 

Clark, A. (1999). Being there: Putting brain, body, and world together again.  Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

 

Interesting and challenging attempt to reconcile the seemingly conflicting claims of traditional (computational; representational) approaches to cognitive science with an embedded view of mind, dependent on the particular content and structure of its past, immediate, and imagined contexts.  The inherent hierarchy of cognitive models inspired by the computer metaphor, controlled by a “central executive,” gives way to a dynamic systems view where the control of the system is a reciprocal function of the interplay between body, brain, environment, and task/goal context.  From this perspective, one’s immediate environment becomes an essential tool for creating cognitive products.  Any implications for office environments that support knowledge workers?

 

Clements-Croome, D. (Ed.). (2000). Creating the productive workplace. London: E & FN Spon.

 

This wonderful edited volume provides a thoughtful review of the multi-disciplinary, scattered literature exploring the physical environment’s influence on productivity.  Although clearly organizations large and small represent the target audience, this book provides many insights about the impact of built environments on human functioning in general and easily makes the case that a better understanding of this relationship can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

 

Cohen, D., & Prusak, L. (2001). In good company: How social capital makes organizations work. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

 

Excellent discussion of the psychological and social conditions under which companies can either be successful or fail.  The authors make a compelling case that the foundations for valued human relationships represent great business strategy, since these circumstances encourage knowledge sharing, open communication, best practices, learning from each other’s mistakes, and other vital components of a social infrastructure that maximally leverages technical knowledge in pursuit of organizational goals.

 

Danford, G. S. & Willems, E. P. (1974). Reliability and validity of subjective responses to an architectural display. Man-Environment Systems, 4, 117-118.

 

Evidence that suggests the use of descriptive scales to assess subjective ratings of architectural images might be subject to method variance (instrument bias), meaning that the measures themselves may influence responses in addition to any effects of the stimuli.

 

Diener, E. & Seligman, M. E. P. (July, 2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1-31.

 

Argues that traditionally economic concepts such as “value-add” must be reformulated to reflect general well-being.  To represent the costs & benefits of various investment strategies (for either the developed or developing world) purely in monetary terms misses the most important consideration—the impact on quality of life.

 

Dijksterhuis, A. & Aarts, H. (2003). On wildebeests and humans: The preferential detection of negative stimuli.  Psychological Science, 14, 14-18.

 

Evidence that humans can detect and categorize negative better than positive stimuli (both faster and more accurately)—even without awareness of their content/meaning.

 

DiLouie, C. (June, 2003). Light brings power to the people. Today’s Facility Manager, 62-66.

 

“Studies reveal causal link between personal control of lighting with employee satisfaction and performance”—these studies were conducted by the Lighting Research Center and the Light Right Consortium (LRC).

 

Edworthy, J., Hellier, E., Aldrich, K. & Loxley, S. (2004). Designing trend-monitoring sounds for helicopters: Methodological issues and an application. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 10(4), 203-218.

 

Evidence that complex sounds elicit different ratings for perception (e. g., similarity) and meaning (e. g., danger).  These results imply that the psychophysical scales linking objective with subjective aspects of sounds are likely to be context-specific and therefore inconsistent.  Design implications for sound masking, for example, include that it might be difficult to find consistently positive associative metaphors for sound masking signals.

 

Evans, G. W., & Johnson, D. (2000). Stress and open-office noise. Journal of Applied Psychology, 85, 779-783.

 

Evidence that even low-level open-office noise (laboratory stimulus consisting of conversation segments, typing sounds, ringing phones, and drawers being opened and closed; average level 55 dBA) can cause stress (as measured by urinary epinephrine), lower post-exposure motivation, and decrease the likelihood that those exposed will make ergonomic, postural adjustments to their computer workstation, compared to quiet (40 dBA) conditions.

 

Ford, C. M. & Gioia, D. A (Eds.) (1995). Creative action in organizations: Ivory tower visions & real world voices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 

 

Fifty-one essays on the struggle to apply relevant research on creativity within organizations; the first half of the book features essays by academic researchers of both individual & group or organizational creativity & innovation, while the last half of the book includes essays by corporate leaders & managers of creativity & innovation (e. g., R&D) within their companies.

 

Galindo, M. P. G. & Rodríguez, J. A. C. (2000). Environmental aesthetics and psychological wellbeing: Relationships between preference judgements for urban landscapes and other relevant affective responses. Psychology in Spain, 4, 13-27.

More evidence that not only is it possible to measure aesthetic responses, but also that the dimensions of pleasure and arousal seem to be important cross-culturally in influencing subjective preference and well-being about the physical environment.

 

Gifford, R., Hine, D. W., Muller-Clemm, W., Reynolds, D. J., Jr., et al.  (March, 2000). Decoding modern architecture: A lens model approach for understanding the aesthetic differences of architects and laypersons. Environment & Behavior, 32, 163-187.

 

"Examined the physical and affective bases of the differences between architects' and laypersons' aesthetic evaluations of building facades. . . . Both groups strongly based their global assessments on elicited pleasure (and not on elicited arousal), but the 2 groups based their emotional assessments on almost entirely different sets of objective building features, which may help to explain why the aesthetic evaluations of architects and laypersons are virtually unrelated."

 

Goldberger, P. (December, 2003). The indomitable work space. Metropolis, 23(4), 68, 70.

 

“Experts said technology would render it a dinosaur, but the lowly cubicle lumbers on.”

 

Gorawa

ra-Bhat, R. (2000). The social and spatial ecology of work: The case of a survey research organization. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

 

Examines the social ecology of constructed workspace within the context of a theoretically driven case study of a midwestern survey research organization.  Suggests that the physical environment, the social-organizational structure, and workers' psychosocial experience of the work environment are mutually interacting systems that dynamically influence one another.  In order to fully understand the impact of design on behavior, the built environment should be studied from both an architectural and a social-ecological perspective simultaneously rather than for these two approaches to proceed independently.

 

Gray, J. R. (2004). Integration of emotion and cognitive control. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(2), 46-48.

 

Suggests that emotions can influence cognition and perhaps vice versa. This provides neuroscientific evidence that largely emotional states such as job satisfaction may impact cognitive performance and thus perhaps knowledge worker productivity.

 

Guzowski, M. (2000). Daylighting for sustainable design. New York: McGraw-Hill.

A great overview of natural lighting strategy in a number of different architectural areas—including health care, residential, corporate office, educational, non-profit, governmental and leisure/recreational.

 

Harrigan, J. E. (1997). Architecture and interior design. In G. Salvendy (Ed.), Handbook of human factors and ergonomics, 2nd ed., pp. 964-986.  New York:  John Wiley & Sons.

 

Explores the human-centered, user-relevant, occupant issues related to the built environment; human factors & ergonomics in the broadest sense applied to the design, construction and use of the built environment.

 

Heil, M., Rolke, B. & Pecchinenda, A. (December, 2004). Automatic semantic activation is no myth: Semantic context effects on the N400 in the letter-search task in the absence of response time effects. Psychological Science, 15(12), 852-857.

 

Evidence that the meaning of words is processed automatically based on physiological indices of attention. Implications include that office occupants may not be able to “learn” to ignore proximal conversations.

 

Heimsath, C. (1977). Behavioral architecture: Toward an accountable design process. New York: McGraw-Hill.

 

An early attempt to account for behavioral patterns and processes in the design and implementation of architecture.

 

Hendrick, H. W., & Kleiner, B. M. (2001). Macroergonomics: An introduction to work system design. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

 

An introduction and overview of large-scale Ergonomic interventions at the level of work groups, departments, and organizations that provide a useful, self-maintaining context for more traditional, microergonomic interventions defined, evaluated and implemented at the level of individual workers and tasks.

 

Herzog, T. R., & Flynn-Smith, J. A. (September, 2001). Preference and perceived danger as a function of the perceived curvature, length, and width of urban alleys. Environment & Behavior, 33, 653-666.

 

Provides a general approach to evaluating spaces through measuring research participants’ subjective responses; in this case, the theoretical approach focused on how environments can be perceived as safe or dangerous.  In the case of office environments, the same general approach can be used, but the subjective responses measured would of course differ from the “safe-dangerous” continuum emphasized here.

 

Hidaka, T., & Beranek, L. L. (2000). Objective and subjective evaluations of twenty-three opera houses in Europe, Japan, and the Americas. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107, 368-383.

 

Relates objective physical measures of acoustical performance with subjective ratings by 22 conductors to isolate the important physical features of the world's best opera houses.

 

Hildebrand, G. (1999). Origins of architectural pleasure. Berkeley: University of California Press.

 

An exploration of why we respond as we do to various features of the built environment based on our evolutionary and cultural histories, with some suggestions for how to improve everyone's experience of architecture.

 

Hyde, J. S. (September, 2005). The gender similarities hypothesis. American Psychologist, 60(6), 581-592.

 

Reviews extensive evidence that argues against the prevailing view that males and females have extensive, pervasive psychological differences. The bulk of the research suggests that similarities between the sexes predominate.

 

Israel, T. (2003). Some place like home: Using design psychology to create ideal places. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons.  Design Psychology Website.

 

A thorough introduction to using principles from depth psychology to explore personal and collective design principles informed by one’s life experiences.

 

Israel, T. (2007, July 17). Emotional Architecture - Using Psychological Profiles to Design Houses - NYTimes.com. Retrieved August 8, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/garden/17emotional.html. ">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/17/garden/17emotional.html.

 

 

 

Israel, T. (2008, July 18). Some are big fans of house plans -- chicagotribune.com. Retrieved August 8, 2008, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-house-plans_chomes_0718_jul18,0,1837">http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-house-plans_chomes_0718_jul18,0,1837

 

Johnson, J. (May, 2004). The knowledge workplace: Designing for interaction. Interiors & Sources, 11(5), 44-48.

 

A brief review of research and case studies relevant to the issue of balancing support for people working together with support for people working alone.  Although more anecdotal and design intent information exists in this area than rigorously conducted prospective studies, this article outlines the relevant concerns very well.

 

Kraut, R., Patterson, M., Lundmark, V., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T., & Scherlis, W. (1998). Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? American Psychologist, 53, 1017-1031.

 

Evidence that time spent on the Internet actually increases depression, loneliness, and feelings of isolation; suggests that at the very least, technology may not be the panacea to improve human interaction, “creating bridges across cultures . . . ”

 

Kupritz, V. W. (2000). The dynamics of privacy regulation: A conceptual model for HRD and organizations. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, 38(1), 29-59.

 

A model of the psychological construct of privacy particularly relevant to office work environments that includes its “environmental, behavioral, and social mechanisms.”  Argues that private, enclosed spaces would be preferred for knowledge workers.

 

Larsen, L., Adams, J., Deal, B., Kweon, B.-S. & Tyler, E. (1998). Plants in the workplace: The effects of plant density on productivity, attitudes, and perceptions. Environment and Behavior, 30(3), 261-281.

 

Evidence that although plants improved fatigue, hoarseness (dry throat), cough and dry or flushed facial skin symptoms, they actually decreased productivity on a repetitive task.  Perhaps plants should be used for restoration and stress release among creative knowledge workers, but more sparingly for repetitive, production-oriented spaces.

 

Lee, S. Y. & Brand, J. L. (2005). Effects of control over office workspace on perceptions of the work environment and work outcomes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 323-333.

 

Empirical test of a Structural Equations Model (SEM) relating perceptions of control, perceptions of the work environment and subjective estimates of individual & group output.

 

Legendre, A. (2003). Environmental features influencing toddlers’ bioemotional reactions in day care centers. Environment and Behavior, 35(4), 523-549.

 

Used direct measures of cortisol from saliva swabs as an indicator of stress levels; the results implied that design of day care centers should allow children to be grouped homogeneously according to age in groups of not more than 15. There should be approximately 646 square feet of play space per toddler (not including toilets, locker rooms, changing rooms, or floor space used by large furniture or equipment). Toddler group spaces should be designed so that only four caregivers are needed (every toddler should be able to secure eye contact with a caregiver anywhere in the space).  Question: Could more space reduce the stress of call center employees?

 

Levinson, H. (2002). Organizational assessment: A step-by-step guide to effective consulting. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 

A wealth of applied guidance on measurement and intervention in organizational consulting.

 

Mahnke, F. H. (1996). Color, environment, & human response. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

Excellent introduction to an occupant-centered approach to using color in the design of contexts for human behavior and experience.

 

McAndrew, F. T. (1993). Environmental psychology. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

 

Provides an introduction to the study of environments from an occupant-centered perspective.  The measurement of occupants’ perceptions & preferences as well as measurement of the physical features of the environment being studied both are important to understand how environments can influence people.

 

McCoy, J. M. & Evans, G. W. (2002). The potential role of the physical environment in fostering creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 14(3-4), 409-426.

Evidence that environments where individuals are creative contain the following characteristics: Complexity of visual detail, view of natural environment, constructed from natural materials, fewer cool colors, fewer manufactured or composite surface materials.

 

McNeese, M., Salas, E. & Endsley, M. (Eds.). (2001). New trends in cooperative activities: Understanding system dynamics in complex environments. Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

 

Although much of the research and many of the examples & case studies reviewed in this volume address much more circumscribed situations (e. g., a medical team; a cockpit crew; a nuclear power control station crew; a design team; a military unit; a marketing group) than the spatial & temporal complexity of large organizations, the knowledge developed can be invaluable when applied to work groups in corporations.

 

Nasar, J. L. (2000). The evaluative image of places. In W. B. Walsh, K. H. Craik, & R. H. Price (Eds.), Person-environment psychology: New directions and perspectives, 2nd ed. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 

Explores the reasons why architects and non-architects frequently have different preferences regarding the built environment; outlines visual quality programming and other approaches for empirical assessments of people's responses to the built environment.

 

Nasar, J. L. & Lin, Y.-H. (2003). Evaluative responses to five kinds of water features. Landscape Research, 28(4), 441-450.

 

Evidence that still water (e. g., pools) is calming while moving water (e. g., fountains) is exciting.

 

Newsham, G. R. & Veitch, J. A. (2001). Lighting quality recommendations for VDT offices: A new method of derivation. International Journal of Lighting Research and Technology, 33(2), 97-116.

 

Experimental evidence that initial individual differences regarding lighting level preferences should be considered to optimize light levels as well as in considerations of how best to provide user control of lighting.

 

Olson, J. (November, 2000). The business impacts of workplace design. Facilities Design & Management, 20-21.

 

Discusses a research based approach to evaluating the effectiveness of different kinds of office environments; essentially, unless they're designed properly, open office plans can do more harm than good.

 

Orfield, S. (November, 2001). A better plan. ASID-ICON, 31-35.

 

Summarizes the history of open-plan office design, and outlines a scientific approach to improving on historic, traditional, and contemporary instantiations of the concept.

 

Orfield, S. (September/October, 2000). The open plan office. Facility Management Journal, 20-25.

 

Contrasts the economics and occupant concerns of open plan offices, suggesting that occupant-centered design need not be sacrificed to achieve facilities cost-effectiveness.

 

Patterson, M. (March, 1996). Reconfiguring the workplace: Flexible interiors accommodate changing work needs. Buildings, 40-42.

 

Explores the delicate balance between the need for facilities flexibility and open communication on the one hand, and the need for worker privacy and concentration on the other.

 

Pile, J. (1978). Open office planning. New York: Whitney Library of Design.

 

An overview of the “first wave” of applying landscaped office ideas from Germany to corporate office environments in the United States; notice how the planning process involved technical experts & painstaking occupant analysis, and did not include “space savings” in its conceptual rationale.

 

Powell, K. (2003). Inspiration from architecture: Building a better scientific rapport. Nature, 424(14), 858-859.

 

More empirical evidence supporting the notion of intentional design for informal interaction as a means to increase collaboration and employee satisfaction—at least for scientific lab spaces with scientist employees.

 

Propst, R. (1968). The office: A facility based on change. Elmhurst, IL: The Business Press.

 

A timeless classic, argues that in order to support the increasing rate of change within organizations and the constituencies they serve, office facilities must emphasize human performance, end-user adjustability, and flexible strategic planning.  Effective office spaces will feature modular components that can be modified dynamically to accommodate structural and social change.

 

Roser, M. & Gazzaniga, M. S. (2004). Automatic brains—interpretive minds. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(2), 56-59.

 

Brain activities appear to be modular and operate somewhat independently of each other.  How we experience unity in our own identity and the world around us involves active, dynamic interpretation largely unavailable for verbal explanation.

 

Russo, F. (October 23, 2000). My kingdom for a door. Time, B2-B6.

 

"As the open office proliferates, some workers find it hard to adjust. There's a new growth industry in what to do about it."

 

Salvendy, G. (Ed.). Handbook of human factors and ergonomics, 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

A comprehensive reference on all aspects of human-centered, user-relevant, and user-guided design considerations, including individual, work group, team, organizational; and other product, service and system issues.

 

Sheldon, K. M., Elliot, A. J., Kim, Y., & Kasser, T. (2001). What is satisfying about satisfying events? Testing 10 candidate psychological needs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 325-339.

 

Presents empirical, cross-cultural evidence in favor of some well-known psychological theories of human needs, as well as evidence opposed to some aspects of those classic theories.  The results supported self-determination theory concerning the importance of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.  "Self-esteem was also important, whereas self-actualization or meaning, physical thriving, popularity or influence, and money--luxury were less important."  In addition to its cross-cultural approach, the study had longitudinal features, making it an exceptionally strong test of which human needs are the most fundamental.

 

Simonson, C. J., Salonvaara, M. & Ojanen, T. (2002). The effect of structures on indoor humidity: Possibility to improve comfort and perceived air quality. Indoor Air, 12(4), 243-251.

 

Using a numerical simulation based on a previously validated model, estimated the perceived comfort and IAQ for two occupants in a bedroom. It has previously been shown that indoor humidity can influence building material durability & emissions & energy use.  Hygroscopic structures absorb & retain moisture from the air.  Based on this simulation, it was predicted that the use of hygroscopic structures (e. g., wood-based building materials) would increase satisfaction with the room’s thermal conditions.

 

Smith, M. J. & Bayehi, A. D. (2003). Do ergonomics improvements increase computer workers’ productivity?: An intervention study in a call centre. Ergonomics, 46(1-3), 3-18.

 

Evidence that ergonomics interventions can improve productivity, although productivity (objectively measured as number of successfully completed transactions) was multiply determined.  The experimental group had a 5% increase and the control group had a 3% decrease in productivity.  Physical accessories and a new chair were not as effective by themselves as when paired with education & training.

 

Snoonian, D. (September, 2002). Man as a meter. Architectural Record, pp. 206-210.

 

“At the University of Michigan, an electronic classroom is home to cutting-edge audiovisual research . . . In the classroom, light and sound measurements can be linked to what people see and hear.”

 

Springer, T., & Lockwood, S. (August, 2002). Strategic facility planning. Today’s Facility Manager, 52-54.

 

Outlines approaches for aligning office design and facility planning with organizational goals and objectives.

 

Stamps, A. E., III. (2003). Permeability and environmental enclosure. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 96, 1305-1310.

 

Evidence that while height of enclosure, permeability of enclosure and perceived area of enclosure all influence feelings of enclosure, height has the most influence on this quality.

 

Stamps, A. E., III. (1999). Physical determinants of preferences for residential facades. Environment & Behavior, 31, 723-751.

 

Abstract:  Traditional design discourse uses very vague notions.  The vagueness can be greatly reduced by confining one's descriptions of physical design features to materials and spatial relationships.  Such definitions are suggested for three factors of architectural facades: surface complexity, silhouette complexity, and façade articulation.  Each of the three definitions correlates highly with subjective impressions (rs in the range of .69 to .90).  When all three factors were varied simultaneously, the most important factor for visual preference turned out to be the surface complexity (ß weight = .72).  Silhouette complexity was less important (ß weight = .26), and façade articulation was least important (ß weight = -.11).  The findings have direct implications for both practice and research.

 

Stanney, K. M., Maxey, J. L., & Salvendy, G. (1997). Socially centered design. In G. Salvendy (Ed.), Handbook of human factors and ergonomics, 2nd ed., pp. 637-656. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

 

Evaluates the teaming, work group, and other organizational implications of system and space design.  Suggests that the behavioral implications of design should guide its other considerations such as aesthetics.

 

Sundstrom, E., Bell, P. A., Busby, P. L. & Asmus, C. (1996). Environmental psychology 1989-1994. Annual Review of Psychology, 47, 485-512.

 

Reviews the literature on the influence of the physical environment on human behavior, including theoretical discussions of arousal, environmental load, stress & adaptation, privacy-regulation, ecological psychology & behavior setting, and transactional approaches; and the important psychological features of the build environment to consider for residences (residential preference & satisfaction, housing design features, residential crowding, place attachment), workplaces (stress & health, windows, enclosure & privacy, other facets), hospitals/clinics/rehabilitation settings, schools, prisons and extreme living environments.  The chapter concludes with a discussion of community aspects of environmental quality and concern.

 

Sundstrom E., Town J., Rice R., Osborn D., & Brill M. (1994). Office noise, satisfaction, and performance. Environment and Behavior, 26(2), 195-222.

 

Evidence that most open offices do not represent better environments for workers than more traditional, private offices.

 

Tanis, J. & Duffy, F. (September, 1999). A vision of the new workplace revisited. Site Selection, 805-814.

 

Although colored somewhat by the giddy optimism of the late 90’s, makes the argument that the purpose for office real estate has shifted from a cost to be minimized to a strategic investment to be optimized; rather than simply providing space for bodies, work environments must support and encourage new ways of working—from isolated, independent contributors to collaborative, high-performance teams; from space efficiency to workplace effectiveness.

 

Tannen, D. (1994). Talking from 9 to 5—women and men in the workplace: Language, sex and power. New York: Avon Books.

 

An excellent summary of the myriad reasons communication & collaboration within work groups may or may not be effective—independently of the physical environment; just one example of the many, complex determinants of behavior at work that do not depend on intentional design.

 

Thompson, G. M. (2002). Optimizing a restaurant’s seating capacity. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 43(4), 48-57.

 

A simulation study using RevPASH (revenue per available seat hour) and TABLEMIX (imitates customer flow through a restaurant) to identify the best sizes for tables and their best configurations.  For smaller restaurants (seating up to 50 people) smaller table sizes of 2-4 that could be combined to accommodate larger parties were best; for larger restaurants (around 200 seats), some tables with dedicated seating for parties up to eight should be available.  However, this study did not evaluate customers’ preference ratings for these various table configurations.

 

Veitch, J. A. (2001). Psychological processes influencing lighting quality. Journal of the Illuminating Engineering Society, 30(1), 124-140.

 

An introduction to the psychology of lighting quality with some emphasis on office and other work environments.

 

Veitch, J. A. & Newsham, G. R. (2001). Preferred luminous conditions in open-plan offices: Research and practice recommendations. International Journal of Lighting Research and Technology, 32(4), 199-212.

 

Empirical evidence regarding preferred light levels in open-plan offices.  The basic message is that individual differences need to be incorporated into the design of lighting—either through optimizing initial conditions or offering user-control (easy adjustability).

 

Verespej, M. A. (March 21, 1994). Goodbye, status--hello, communication. Industry Week, 9.

 

"That's what happened when one department redesigned its offices--and wiped out its lavish executive trappings."

 

Walsh, W. B., Craik, K. H., & Price, R. H. (2000). Person-environment psychology: New directions and perspectives, 2nd ed. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

 

Theoretical and empirical work on the impact of person-environment interactions within organizations, communities, health care facilities, and elsewhere.

 

Watkins-Miller, E. (March, 1996). 'Opening' the lines of communication: Knight-Ridder Information, Inc. clears the path to greater efficiency and productivity through open officing. Buildings, 30-34.

 

Outlines one major company's rationale for moving from traditional closed offices to a more open, support-for-communication-&-collaboration approach to environmental design.

 

Yan, X. W., & England, M. E. (May, 2001). Design evaluation of an arctic research station: From a user perspective. Environment & Behavior, 33, 449-470.

 

Occupant-based assessment of the design and function of an arctic research station, indicating that privacy, flexibility/adjustability of interior elements, and options for interior variety were related to occupant satisfaction and occupant ratings of their environment; although most of the ratings were uniformly high, no doubt owing to the intrinsic motivation of the work.

 

Ziefle, M. (1998). Effects of display resolution on visual performance. Human Factors, 40, 554-568.

 

Reading with paper better than with VDTs; high-resolution VDTs better than low-resolution VDTs; high-resolution screens important to reduce eye strain.

 


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