The impact of the physical environment on work-related wellbeing
Helping TU Delft student working in a single-room-home
D.C.N. Hesselman (TU Delft - Industrial Design Engineering)
Derek Lomas – Mentor (TU Delft - Form and Experience)
P. Vink – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Materials and Manufacturing)
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Abstract
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, students are having difficulties with working from home. Particularly those living in a single-room-home, where they have to find ways to separate work and private life, while signals from different activities are mixed in a single room. This thesis focussed on helping TU Delft students quickly, as 82% of the participants in the research of this thesis have a (much) lower satisfaction of working from home, compared to working at the university. And 59% of participants were dealing with a (very) poor ability to separate work and private life. As such, there was a significant need of students to help them through the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this thesis, tips and inspiration for home-work environment modifications were gathered and form the main content of this thesis. This content was distributed and evaluated with an iterative approach. With a focus on improving work-related wellbeing by creating the perception of a second room to work from at home. The content can be divided into; physical barrier, visual division, and ergonomic setup. And tackle the different aspects of a second room; creating separation within the room, creating a different vibe to a part of the room, and the setup within the room. This content was implemented in four ways; A booklet, an Instagram campaign, an article in TU Delft Delta, and a website. Combined they reached almost 4.000 views and was considered a success. An Instagram evaluation showed 54% implemented some form of a modification. The modifications were evaluated on the change in satisfaction of working from home, and the ability to separate work from private life. In total, 77% of the participants showed an increase in at least one of the two areas, with 23% experiencing an increase in both areas. This thesis shows the importance of our surrounding environment on our wellbeing, the impact the context in designing for wellbeing, and the impact a design intervention can generate.