Workplace-Design Research for Today’s Workplaces

A team of psychology and engineering researchers from Stanford (Douglas and colleagues) probed how multiple aspects of the physical environment influence the psychological experiences of people at work. They consider not only some of the usual topics—such as the use of natural materials on furniture and elsewhere and the presence of windows (which influences views of nature and being in natural light)—but they also break important new ground by investigating how artwork (specifically photographs) representing diverse identities (i.e., race and gender) influence stress levels. Their findings are broadly applicable, across all industries and job functions where knowledge workers are employed, for example.

Developing workplaces that foster diversity, equity, and inclusion is top-of-mind for many designers. Before this study was published, there was not much research available to guide their efforts. The Douglas-lead team’s findings on the implications of using natural materials and having access to windows are fairly predictable; their consistency with those of previous studies add credibility to the DEI-related data collected.

The research team had participants spend time in simulated work environments with or without natural materials, windows to the outdoors, and artwork presenting diverse identities. Each participant experienced one of eight different rooms, with all data gathered in less than an hour.

Self-report and physiological data were collected. The physiological data were for skin conductance levels.

Details were provided on study settings:

• In the natural materials condition, surfaces on furniture and elsewhere primarily featured stained natural wood. In the artificial materials condition, the same surfaces were white plastic laminate.
• Participants in the window condition experienced natural light and had a view of nature while those in the no window condition did not see either. The window view included the sky, another building, and a few trees.
• Three photographs were visible to study participants and they were either of groups of white men (non-diverse condition) or sets of people of various races and genders. These photos were what was used to vary the apparent DEI profile of a setting. The images used were in color, wall-mounted, and framed, measuring 16 inches by 20 inches.

People familiar with the research literature will not be surprised to learn that “participants exposed to natural materials and windows during a stress-inducing task had lower negative stress impacts across various metrics.”

This study makes a more distinctive contribution to both research and practice by revealing that participants in the study who were exposed to that artwork representing diverse identities reported lower stress levels than others.

The study findings include:

• Participants experienced less stress in the natural materials, the windows, or the diverse representations conditions.
  • Self-reported stress increases were lower in the natural materials than the artificial materials condition and in those seeing the diverse representations than the nondiverse ones.
  • “Results suggest that in the presence of no window (or artificial materials), having natural materials (or a window) can buffer against some of the negative impacts” following a stressful task.
  • When the SCR data were analyzed it became clear that during the stressful task people experiencing natural materials had significantly lower physiological stress levels than study participants in the artificial materials condition.
  • So, the people in rooms with natural materials had significantly lower increases in stress levels, whether those stress levels were measured physiologically or via self-reports after a stress generating task—all compared to people in the rooms featuring artificial materials.
• When study participants could see the window they had significantly lower negative arousal scores than those who could not see the window.

• Interestingly, “participants who identified as male and white had significantly higher divergent creativity scores when exposed to natural materials compared to artificial materials.”

The research by Douglas and colleagues makes it clear that it is particularly important to include natural materials in spaces where people will experience stress and that windows to the outdoors are also a positive addition to these areas. The finding that diverse representations can indeed have desirable psychological effects supports their use and buttresses what had previously been largely anecdotal reasons for including them.