What is employees’ relationship to the office today?

Challenge

After nearly three years since almost all work was done in the office, our clients’ employees had different expectations for their work experience and workspace. The initial hybrid arrangement was, of course, the product of necessity and not intention, and our client felt the need to step back to design the work experience, starting with the space, on the foundation of employee values, behaviors, and needs.

The team approached Artefact to deliver a foundational understanding of their employees today, with a particular interest in personas.

Approach

We conducted 90-minute remote interviews (n=24) with employees across the globe who had varying hybrid work patterns, from fully remote to fully in-person.

Prior to the interview, participants two-part completed a homework assignment: taking photos of their office and work from home spaces and sharing their calendars for a recent day at the office and day at home. This assignment helped us gather in-context tools and behaviors that we typically can’t get with remote research, while still enabling the sample to include participants in a number of different office buildings across the globe.

In the interview, we reviewed participants’ homework assignments, completed a context mapping/card sort activity to understand employee’s ideal work experience, and asked for feedback on a few initial concepts.

Outcomes

We delivered 4 personas and 9 opportunity areas organized according to a day in the office and a day at home. The work received positive feedback, noting, “this is the first time we have seen [clients’ employees] so humanized” and that our work “sets the standard for how [client] goes about gaining and sharing insights.”

We’re having conversations for multiple directions of continued work with this team, with the expectation to kick off a new project in July 2023.

Industry
The Real Estate & Facilities team of a technology company

Team
Lead researcher
Myself
Project Sponsor

Role
Writing discussion guide + homework assignment
Moderating interviews
Notetaking for interviews
Analyzing + synthesizing data
Creating deliverable structure