An Employee-Centered Design Approach for the Next Evolution of the Office

Episode 013 • 45 min

COVID-19 changed the game for remote work, with large companies like Twitter and Shopify announcing they’re now fully remote.

The CEO of Shopify even boldly proclaimed that “Office centricity is over.” Some experts estimate that 25-30% of the workforce will be working from home by the end of 2021 That’s great and all, but Zoom can’t fully replace working and collaborating in person in a shared space. As one of our guests explains: humans have dimension. So how do we design for a return to the office even as there’s a resurgence of COVID-19? What’s the next evolution of the office environment? We discuss with two experts: Leila Mitchell is an architect, graphic designer, and marketing strategist; she’s the Founder and Creative Director of LLM Design. And Kelliann McCabe is the Chief People Officer at Imprivata, a healthcare information technology company that enables trust across the system. While many firms are thinking about the physical augmentations that lead to a return to the office, Leila and Kelliann discuss the human element, an employee-centered way of thinking about a blended — physical and virtual — work environment. Plus, our weekly dose of good design.

Weekly Dose of Good Design

• Sam: 10 Things I have Learned by Milton Glaser
• Liz: Canoes
• Leila: Zoom annotations and Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) walking, hiking and bike trails

Links

• Book: A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age by Daniel H. Pink
• Book: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
• Article: Creating a Post Pandemic Workplace Strategy
• Article: 5 questions about motivation with Daniel Pink
• Research: Reimagining the office and work life after COVID-19