Capstone Proposal: Collaboration | Office Furniture

 

Capstone Project: Introduction

The issue that I want to address is the effect of flexible and collaborative working in the workplace. Collaborative working should not just occur in meeting rooms, in a long massive table but also in each employee’s desk.

Offices were designed to support its occupants to be productive at its best. However, most work place provides desks that are not designed for collaboration instead for individual tasks. Workers are often assigned in each individual work desk or a work a cubicle to isolate them from everybody. This perspective displays an orthodox viewpoint which started from the Romans to Elizabethan era, era of Industrial revolution to 20^th century. They thought that it would encourage productivity and creativity. Previous design of work desks displays formality, suggests work, evokes sense of isolation and also needed to fit in the traditional office interior.  

In the 21^st century, people, place and technology plays great role in inevitability of change in workplace design. Flexible and collaborative working is significant issues that will affect the performance of a company. It is one of the present and future demands of a company from its workers and the workers from its workplace. In 2012 Microsoft did a survey about work place and came up with a result that: 70% of workers in Europe demands flexible working that will allow them to work from home, from outdoor places or being able to use their own digital devices like laptops, tablets, or mobile phones. Collaboration will allow better communication and come up with better of ideas from each other that if put together can have a great one. Current workplace are getting less formal and becoming more unorthodox. Technology expresses the idea of being able to work anywhere, anytime and anyplace. also challenges everything in the workplace. Employers believe that collaborative working is the answer for better work outcome.

My proposal is to make office furniture that will promote collaboration and flexible working in the workplace without compromising the company’s culture. It would benefit both the company and the workers. It would address the needs of different kind of personality whether individuals have introversion or extraversion traits. The need of privacy will not be compromise. Through my proposal, it would also touch human senses that would evoke sense of comfort. Furthermore, it will support the use of fast evolving technology of the 21^st century.

 

Capstone Project: Approach 

This project suits my abilities in terms of skills and knowledge about furniture and lighting design and theory which I have studied at COFA for a year and integrating it towards all the things I learned from studying Industrial design which gave me deeper understanding about design process itself. The topic interests me because it is a challenge to put individuals together especially if they have different traits like introversion and extroversion. It is interesting how baby boomers and millennial would share each other’s perception and be productive.    

The topic that I want to do requires a lot of investigation and understanding in able to come up with a perfect design concept that will benefit everyone in the workplace. In able to do this I would need to do plenty of research from reliable sources, interviews from furniture industry or someone with experience, and follow the Australian standard requirements in designing the workplace and office furniture. Furthermore, concept development through sketching and model making would greatly explore the overall design.