IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 22

INSTAOFFICE

"We observed how and where people were working and saw
that people enjoyed having different kinds of places to work and
be collaborative," says Anne Raimondi, senior vice president of
marketing, Zendesk. (At the time of the redesign, Raimondi was vice
president of the company's People Operations.)
HR also discovered that different teams had different needs. For
example, engineers valued quiet space and the ability to be able to focus
without a lot of background noise.
The team worked to incorporate those findings with Hanley. "We heard that
people cared a lot about having natural light, so we placed shared spaces near windows
versus conference rooms or offices," Raimondi says. "People also shared they were
worried about being divided up amongst our seven floors, so we made each
floor unique to encourage mingling and exploration."
In the end, it was about designing a place that was universally
welcoming, says Hanley. "A lot of that comes down to legibility,
designing an architecture that is welcoming and that is comfortable
and that is relaxing," he says. "That's opposed to an architecture
where you feel like it's kind of permission-based and you don't
feel like you belong. When you walk in there, everybody
feels like they belong."
When you're designing with an eye toward employee
well-being, it's crucial to seek out employees' opinions and
keep them top of mind. What works for one company might not
work for another.
"It can involve a lot of observation, beyond capturing survey
information," Hirons says. "It's the surest route to a truth serum as to how people
are actually using the space."

#ICYMI: Just in time for the app's
sixth anniversary, Menlo Park,
California, USA social media
company Instagram moved to a
newly refurbished office space
in October. The new digs-which
were inspired by the app itself-are
everything you would expect from
the visual-forward company.

Instagram employees and visitors have
access to some unique Instagramable
moments. The company hired a movie set
designer to create three camera-ready
modular backdrops, including this sunset
sky. #Nofilter needed!

Photos by: Christophe Wu

The lobby was designed to really hammer
home the brand image. "You want to feel
like you arrived at Instagram," Ian Spalter,
Instagram's creative director, told Wired.
"Instagram isn't just a big logo or app icon,
it's the content."

Employees in need of a quiet space to
work-most of the office is an open floor
plan-can hide out in the Instagram library,
which is full of art and inspiration.

22

perspective

iida.org/perspective

If they want a company to make a move, designers better be ready to show them the
payoff.
Companies that connect and engage employees yield almost 150 percent higher
earnings per share compared to their peers, according to Gallup's ongoing State of
the American Workplace report. And Teknion's 2016 Ethonomics states "better
air quality, noise reduction, daylighting, and thermal control can increase worker
productivity by 25 percent." But that's not always happening. The issue of noise
reduction pops up repeatedly in research industrywide. According to the IIDA
executive report Workplace Well-Being, 80 percent of its survey respondents chose
"constant interruption" as the problem they would most like to change in their
workplace.
Companies that are willing to address these trouble spots can create a more stable
talent base. Happy people stay at their jobs longer. As Roy Abernathy, IIDA, senior
managing director of commercial real estate firm Savills Studley, Atlanta, Georgia,
USA, said in theWorkplace Well-Being report, "If there is a deterrent to grumpy, it's that
grumpy leaves first: You don't fire the happy, engaged people." Poor engagement can be
a major money suck for companies.
According to Gallup, the gap between an engaged and disengaged workforce equals
roughly 25 percent greater profitability (to the tune of $500 billion).
"Your biggest asset and biggest expense is your staff. Your second expense is real
estate," says Hirons. "If real estate is simply the context for housing staff, you haven't
utilized it to its full potential. If you're not using the work environment for engagement
and well-being, you're not leveraging your second asset very well." n

Photo by: Westend61 Premium

Proving the ROI


http://www.iida.org/perspective

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016

IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016
From IIDA
Contents
Next
World View
Sum of Its Parts
Talk, Talk
Pre/Post
I Design
Data Viz
The Happiness Principle
Designs on Diversity
What’s Old Is New
Retail Reboot
Futureproof Now
Scratch Pad
Insider Intel
Sound Bytes
IIDA News + Updates
Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 5
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Next
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - World View
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Sum of Its Parts
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Talk, Talk
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Pre/Post
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - I Design
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Data Viz
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - The Happiness Principle
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 18
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 20
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Designs on Diversity
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - What’s Old Is New
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Retail Reboot
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Futureproof Now
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 44
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Scratch Pad
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Insider Intel
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Sound Bytes
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - IIDA News + Updates
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - Cover4
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