Marquis - Focus Pod
Project Type
Graduation Project
Duration
6 months
Place
Hyderabad, India
Project Brief
Design a solution to help increase the productivity of employees working at the ValueLabs Head Office through spatial interventions.
The project began with research to understand the context and office space.
Objectives
-
Understanding the multitudes of productivity in the given context
-
To know, first-hand, what productivity means to the people at ValueLabs and how it is measured
-
To identify factors in the workplace that are adversely affecting the productivity of employees
Methods
-
Direct Observation
-
Space
-
People
-
-
Interviews
-
Survey
-
Group Discussion and Activity
Observations
There are four key needs for employees that companies must address via the physical environment:
-
A space that allows to collaborate on ideas and projects with other members
-
A place for independent work and thinking
-
A place to learn and find the inspiration to progress
-
Spaces for socialisation
Observations identifying which of these spaces are present the current office setup and understand the ratio of each kind of space with respect to the number of employees.
Interviews, Survey & Focus Group
One on one conversations help to understand the user’s perspective, experience, interests and opinions. The preliminary observations helped gain an overview of the space and activities carried out in that space. In order to understand the specifics of the tasks and activities performed by the employees and the effect of space on these activities, in- person interviews, surveys and focus group discussions were conducted.
Analysing the data gathered through the research it was found that the factors affecting employee productivity can be classified under two major categories viz. internal and external. The key focus of the project was on the internal factors affecting employee productivity such as the physical office space, infrastructure, employee policies, etc.
The analysed data was then simplified by arranging all of the insights and findings together in the form of a large mind-map and finding the underlying connections between the various data points. These connections were used to identify themes that led to derive the possible directions for solving the brief. These themes served as guiding points while brainstorming for ideas.
.png)
After evaluating each category of ideas, the stakeholders shortlisted the Space, Product/ System/ Service categories and certain constraints were also provided for further expanding on the ideas. Evaluation criteria was defined for selecting ideas from the the shortlisted categories.
Constraints
-
No major modifications is space and layout.
-
Only stand-alone installations that can be moved or removed are permissible. No permanent changes were allowed.
-
Cost of implementing the solution should not exceed the budget of INR 2 lakh.
Evaluation Criteria
-
Relevance to brief
-
Alignment with the research insights
-
Relevance to current workplace trends
-
Expected impact and ROI
-
Feasibility in the current office space
-
Potential reach/ scalability
The shortlisted ideas along with their pros and cons were again presented to the key stakeholders for choosing the final direction. The idea chosen to be taken further was the ‘Focus Pod’. This idea was chosen due to its relevance to the brief, its alignment with the insights from the primary research as well as feasibility, utility quotient & expected impact.
.png)
The idea of a focus pod is to create a personal/ individual workspace that is conducive to completing tasks that require high focus. Brainstorming was carried out to ideate and detail out the different aspects related to a focus pod and to convert it into a detailed concept.
Seven attributes viz. level of access, extent of enclosure, exposure, technology, usage duration, perspective and size were defined for the pod. The essential and good to have elements for the pod were also identified. In addition to this a mood board and form inspiration board was also created.
Pod Form Explorations
The conceptualisation framework and the mood-boards, formed the basis of the form exploration for the focus pod. Two methods were used for the form exploration exercise, viz. sketching and creating mock-ups. Once the form was selected, it was refined as per the attributes and elements defined. Different variations and CMF options for the pod were then explored.
CMF Explorations
Multiple options were explored for the pod interiors as well as exteriors. Different types of interior options were created to cater to different types of audiences who would use the pod as well as well as the nature of tasks that people would work on, in the pod.
The selection of the final CMF treatment was based primarily on the costing and availability of the desired look.
A specification sheet was created with all details of the materials and finishes for each part of the Pod.
After finalising the pod dimensions as well as the furniture to be placed inside the pod, a scaled mock-up of the pod was created. The mock-up represented the final desired output as closely as possible. It helped visualise the final pod and also served as a reference for the vendors to construct it.
Pod Construction
The basic shell for the pod was constructed as per the final design created for the pod. While installing the pod at the decided location in the office premises a lot of unforeseen challenges arose and required to be mitigated. The design of the pod had to be tweaked and modified in order to accommodate the constraints of the installation space.
Final Pod
-
An omni-channel service with connected artefacts such as an application for booking the pod and to control the micro-environment of the pod was proposed.
-
A robust system can be built around the focus pod to help create and foster a culture of productivity.
-
The further explorations include designing pods which can cater to the varied nature of tasks people perform in a workplace.
-
Designing a modular and portable variant of the pod which can be installed at any existing workplace without any major infrastructural changes.
-
The idea of introducing multi-sensory engagement within the pods such as smart lights, sound and smell is also envisioned as a future exploration. This will create an environment where people can disconnect from the hectic schedule and distraction and rejuvenate themselves.
