Arash Kaynama / Design Products

off the wall:
organising the transferable workplace

An innovation project which responds to the growing trend to take work home with a series of office product concepts tailored to particular personality types.

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While the new dawn of teleworking is taking longer to materialise than some pundits predicted, the home is fast becoming the second workplace as more people take work home in the evening and at weekends. According to a TUC report, the British now lead the rest of Europe in taking work home. One in five (21%) sometimes take work home in the UK compared to one in 14 (7%) on average in the European Union. This project set out to study the implications of this trend and develop concepts capable of organising and restructuring the workplace, transferring work between office and home, and enhancing work-life balance.

The designer worked with a 'lead' user group of teachers and schoolchildren at Ashlyns School in Berkhamsted who are well versed in working at school and at home. Disposable cameras and logbooks were distributed to record their work traits, habitats and tools. A number of distinct personality 'types' emerged, triggering a range of product concepts to address their needs. Four were prototyped and tested with a group of different users. The project revealed the potential for new organising systems to support the constant flow of work between office and home.

more about Arash Kaynama

research partner: Esselte

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