Back
HomeArticle 1

Design for Working from Home: Lessons Learned from Architects and Designers during the COVID Era

July 2023, Vol. 1, Issue 1

Author(s)

Zahrasadat Hosseini, Tilanka Chandrasekera, Aditya Jayadas (Oklahoma State University, 431 Nancy Randolph Davis, Stillwater, OK – 74075, United States of America)

Abstract

Technology has revolutionized information and communication, with platforms now enabling employees to work remotely. The COVID-19 pandemic has further changed how people work worldwide. Several challenges have been identified for those working remotely, including uncomfortable work environments, increased stress, and depression. However, there is a lack of research on the working from home (WFH) challenges, successes, and conditions for design professionals. In this study, an anonymous online survey was administered to 93 remote architects and interior designers. The survey aimed to explore remote designers’ experiences, physical work environment, and required equipment. Most respondents reported experiencing distractions, lack of social interaction and physical activities, and inadequate internet/tools while working remotely. However, 60% of participants reported higher productivity while working remotely and desired improved working conditions to continue WFH. Based on the study’s findings, researchers aim to develop and evaluate a pervasive virtual reality enhanced WFH environment for designers in the future.

Keywords

Technology, Working from Home, Architects, Designers, Pervasive Virtual Reality

DOI :

 doi.org/10.62030/2023julyArticle1

Copyright & Licence

Authors publishing in JAARD retain copyright in their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. Published articles are made available under the Creative Commons licence specified by the journal. Current licence: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Pages : 1-21

   Download Full Article

 

Citation

Hosseini, Z., Chandrasekera, T., & Jayadas, A. (2023). Design for Working from Home: Lessons Learned from Architects and Designers during the COVID Era. International Journal of Arts Architecture & Design, 1(1), 1-21. doi.org/10.62030/2023julyArticle1

References

Aczel, B., Kovacs, M., Van Der Lippe, T., & Szaszi, B. (2021). Researchers working from home: Benefits and challenges. PLOS ONE, 16(3), e0249127.
Afrianty, T. W., Artatanaya, I. G., & Burgess, J. (2022). Working from home effectiveness during COVID-19: Evidence from university staff in Indonesia. Asia Pacific Management Review, 27(1), 50–57.
Bailey, D. E., & Kurland, N. B. (1999). The advantages and challenges of working here, there, anywhere, and anytime. Organizational Dynamics, 28(2), 53–68.
Beck, M. J., & Hensher, D. A. (2022). Working from home in Australia in 2020: Positives, negatives and the potential for future benefits to transport and society. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 158, 271–284.
Bellia, L., Pedace, A., & Barbato, G. (2013). Lighting in educational environments: An example of a complete analysis of the effects of daylight and electric light on occupants. Building and Environment, 68, 50–65.
Bellmann, L., & Hübler, O. (2021). Working from home, job satisfaction and work–life balance—Robust or heterogeneous links? International Journal of Manpower, 42(3), 424–441.
Birimoglu Okuyan, C., & Begen, M. A. (2022). Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, its effects on health, and recommendations: The pandemic and beyond. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 58(1), 173–179.
Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2015). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165–218. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qju032
Bolisani, E., Scarso, E., Ipsen, C., Kirchner, K., & Hansen, J. P. (2020). Working from home during COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons learned and issues. Management & Marketing. Challenges for the Knowledge Society, 15(S1), 458–476.
Borgia, M. S., Di Virgilio, F., La Torre, M., & Khan, M. A. (2022). Relationship between work–life balance and job performance moderated by knowledge risks: Are bank employees ready? Sustainability, 14(9), 5416.
Boyce, P. R. (2014). Human factors in lighting (3rd ed.). CRC Press.
Brzezinski, A., Deiana, G., Kecht, V., & Van Dijcke, D. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: Government vs. community action across the United States. COVID Economics: Vetted and Real-Time Papers, 7, 115–156.
Deng, M., Wang, X., & Menassa, C. C. (2021). Measurement and prediction of work engagement under different indoor lighting conditions using physiological sensing. Building and Environment, 203, 108098.
Deutrom, J., Katos, V., & Ali, R. (2022). Loneliness, life satisfaction, problematic internet use and security behaviours: Re-examining the relationships when working from home during COVID-19. Behaviour & Information Technology, 41(14), 3161–3175.
Dingel, J. I., & Neiman, B. (2020). How many jobs can be done at home? Journal of Public Economics, 189, 104235.
Farooq, S., & Kamal, M. A. (2020). An investigation into the adoption of digital design software in the curriculum of interior design. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(11B), 6256–6262.
Forgacs, T. (2010). Empirical research findings on telework: Management experiences and attitudes. Business and Economic Horizons, 1(1), 6–13.
Fostervold, K. I., & Nersveen, J. (2008). Proportions of direct and indirect indoor lighting—The effect on health, well-being and cognitive performance of office workers. Lighting Research & Technology, 40(3), 175–200.
Fukushima, N., Machida, M., Kikuchi, H., Amagasa, S., Hayashi, T., Odagiri, Y., Takamiya, T., & Inoue, S. (2021). Associations of working from home with occupational physical activity and sedentary behavior under the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1), e12212.
Galanti, T., Guidetti, G., Mazzei, E., Zappalà, S., & Toscano, F. (2021). Work from home during the COVID-19 outbreak: The impact on employees’ remote work productivity, engagement, and stress. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 63(7), e426–e432.
Grant, C. A., Wallace, L. M., & Spurgeon, P. C. (2013). An exploration of the psychological factors affecting remote e-worker’s job effectiveness, well-being and work–life balance. Employee Relations, 35(5), 527–546.
Guantario, G. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on the future of work. Reseller Middle East.
Heschong, L., & Mahone, D. (2003). Windows and offices: A study of office worker performance and the indoor environment. California Energy Commission.
Ipsen, C., van Veldhoven, M., Kirchner, K., & Hansen, J. P. (2021). Six key advantages and disadvantages of working from home in Europe during COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1826.
Jalagat, R., & Jalagat, A. (2019). Rationalizing remote working concept and its implications on employee productivity. Global Journal of Advanced Research, 6(3), 95–100.
Johansson, C. (2017). Today’s home office—An answer to the needs of the contemporary home worker [Diploma work].
Keengwe, J. (Ed.). (2015). Handbook of research on active learning and the flipped classroom model in the digital age. IGI Global.
Knez, I., & Hygge, S. (2002). Irrelevant speech and indoor lighting: Effects on cognitive performance and self-reported affect. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 16(6), 709–718.
Konstantzos, I., Sadeghi, S. A., Kim, M., Xiong, J., & Tzempelikos, A. (2020). The effect of lighting environment on task performance in buildings—A review. Energy and Buildings, 226, 110394.
Langè, V., & Gastaldi, L. (2020). Coping Italian emergency COVID-19 through smart working: From necessity to opportunity. Journal of Mediterranean Knowledge, 5(1), 163–171.
Lupu, V. L. (2017). Teleworking and its benefits on work–life balance. In Proceedings of the 4th International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conference on Social Sciences and Arts SGEM 2017 (pp. 693–700).
Mann, S., & Holdsworth, L. (2003). The psychological impact of teleworking: Stress, emotions and health. New Technology, Work and Employment, 18(3), 196–211.
Marshall, J., Burd, C., & Burrows, M. (2021). Those who switched to telework have higher income, education and better health. America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers. U.S. Census Bureau.
Massar, S. A., Ng, A. S., Soon, C. S., Ong, J. L., Chua, X. Y., Chee, N. I., Lee, T. S., & Chee, M. W. (2022). Reopening after lockdown: The influence of working-from-home and digital device use on sleep, physical activity, and wellbeing following COVID-19 lockdown and reopening. Sleep, 45(1), zsab250.
Messenger, J. C., & Gschwind, L. (2016). Three generations of telework: New ICTs and the (R)evolution from home office to virtual office. New Technology, Work and Employment, 31(3), 195–208.
Mills, P. R., Tomkins, S. C., & Schlangen, L. J. (2007). The effect of high correlated colour temperature office lighting on employee wellbeing and work performance. Journal of Circadian Rhythms, 5(1), 1–9.
Moretti, A., Menna, F., Aulicino, M., Paoletta, M., Liguori, S., & Iolascon, G. (2020). Characterization of home working population during COVID-19 emergency: A cross-sectional analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6284.
Niebuhr, F., Borle, P., Börner-Zobel, F., & Voelter-Mahlknecht, S. (2022). Healthy and happy working from home? Effects of working from home on employee health and job satisfaction. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(3), 1122.
Nilles, J. M., Carlson, F. R., Gray, P., & Hanneman, G. (1976). Telecommuting—An alternative to urban transportation congestion. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, SMC-6(2), 77–84.
Piszczek, M. M., & Pimputkar, A. S. (2021). Flexible schedules across working lives: Age-specific effects on well-being and work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(12), 1907–1922.
Sahin, L., Wood, B. M., Plitnick, B., & Figueiro, M. G. (2014). Daytime light exposure: Effects on biomarkers, measures of alertness, and performance. Behavioural Brain Research, 274, 176–185.
Seva, R. R., Tejero, L. M. S., & Fadrilan-Camacho, V. F. F. (2021). Barriers and facilitators of productivity while working from home during pandemic. Journal of Occupational Health, 63(1), e12242.
Smite, D., Tkalich, A., Moe, N. B., Papatheocharous, E., Klotins, E., & Buvik, M. P. (2022). Changes in perceived productivity of software engineers during COVID-19 pandemic: The voice of evidence. Journal of Systems and Software, 186, 111197.
Smolders, K. C., Peeters, S. T., Vogels, I. M., & de Kort, Y. A. (2018). Investigation of dose-response relationships for effects of white light exposure on correlates of alertness and executive control during regular daytime working hours. Journal of Biological Rhythms, 33(6), 649–661.
Tremblay, D. G., & Thomsin, L. (2012). Telework and mobile working: Analysis of its benefits and drawbacks. International Journal of Work Innovation, 1(1), 100–113.
Valente, L., Feijó, B., Ribeiro, A., & Clua, E. (2016). The concept of pervasive virtuality and its application in digital entertainment systems. In Entertainment Computing—ICEC 2016: 15th IFIP TC 14 International Conference, Vienna, Austria, September 28–30, 2016, Proceedings (pp. 187–198). Springer International Publishing.
Van Der Lippe, T., & Lippényi, Z. (2020). Co-workers working from home and individual and team performance. New Technology, Work and Employment, 35(1), 60–79.
Westfall, R. D. (1998). The microeconomics of remote work. In The virtual workplace (pp. 256–287).doi.org/10.62030/2023julyArticle1