Purpose This study aims to investigate why validated post-occupancy evaluation (POE) tools remain marginal in workplace design practice despite their widespread availability and the growing emphasis on evidence-based workplace decision-making. While previous research has identified barriers to POE adoption, less is known about how workplace practitioners collect, interpret and translate user-related information into workplace design decisions. Design/methodology/approach Sixteen semi-structured expert interviews were conducted with workplace designers, architects and workplace consultants operating primarily in Germany. Interviews explored project workflows, methods for understanding user needs, questionnaire use and approaches to translating user feedback into design decisions. Data were analysed using an inductive qualitative coding process. Findings Workspace design operates through interpretive and narrative forms of reasoning rather than standardised evaluation. Workshops and conversations dominated user engagement, while questionnaires served communicative rather than analytical purposes. The study identifies an “interpretation gap”: the absence of frameworks that help practitioners translate evaluation outputs into concrete spatial decisions, causing user feedback to remain disconnected from design action despite practitioners’ genuine interest in evidence. Research limitations/implications The study draws on a qualitative sample of 16 practitioners, providing analytical rather than statistical generalisation. Future research should test these patterns in larger samples and develop methods that better support the translation of user feedback into spatial design decisions. Practical implications The findings suggest that improving workplace evaluation practice requires more than increasing the availability of measurement tools. Future POE approaches should focus on interpretive usability by providing mechanisms that connect user feedback to workplace planning and design decisions. In addition, organisations commissioning workplace projects may strengthen organisational learning by embedding POE within project governance and ensuring that evaluation findings inform subsequent workplace strategies and project briefs. Originality/value This study contributes to workplace design and corporate real estate research by introducing the concept of the interpretation gap, describing the disconnect between evaluation outputs and workplace design action. While previous research has documented the limited uptake of POE tools and identified barriers to their adoption, this study explains why evaluation data often fails to influence design decisions even when it is available. By linking theories of reflective practice and design cognition with empirical evidence from workplace professionals, the study offers a new perspective on the relationship between workplace evaluation and design practice.
Purpose Shared workspace concept is one modern solution applied in health-care facility design. Yet, studies investigating the effects of their implementation on employees are rare. This study aims to compare perceptions of usability, psychosocial work environment and well-being in a psychiatric outpatient clinic that relocated from traditional workspaces into shared workspaces. Design/methodology/approach Questionnaires were administered seven months before and eight months after the change in a Finnish outpatient clinic. Data from 36 employees were analyzed statistically using the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test methods. Findings Shared workspaces supported work tasks and task privacy less than traditional workspaces. Satisfaction with air quality and accessibility increased; however, perceptions of lighting and sufficiency of work- and storage space decreased. Further, well-being deteriorated, but psychosocial work environment was unchanged, except for perceived job security which decreased. To achieve a workspace that is effective, efficient, satisfying and supportive of well-being, shared workspaces and guidelines for using the facilities should support different work tasks. Practical implications Based on a small pre–post study in one psychiatric outpatient clinic, organizations moving to shared workspaces should clearly differentiate areas for quiet and noisy work in activity-based workspaces, ensure sufficient nearby enclosed rooms for calls and discussions, provide easy booking and allocation systems and establish guidelines to support a peaceful work environment. Further, organizations should guide employees to use spaces as intended and monitor user experience and the psychosocial environment after relocation and adjust practices as needed. Originality/value This empirical pre–post study is unique, as it investigates shared workspace concepts in the health-care sector, capturing the impact of the concepts on usability and well-being.
Purpose Previous studies on coworking spaces have mainly concentrated on location determinants and their effects on the immediate environment. Much of the research relies on data from developed countries, leaving a significant gap in user-centred perspectives in less-studied contexts, particularly before, during, and after COVID. This study aims to address this gap by examining the ranking for specific design attributes and exploring the underlying motivations for using coworking spaces in Windhoek, Namibia. Design/methodology/approach Self-administered questionnaires were sent to users of coworking spaces in Namibia, and the results were analysed using descriptive statistics and the Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. Findings The study found that affordable accommodation, a sense of community, a vibrant and creative atmosphere and the company’s professional appearance were the top motivations for using coworking spaces. Accessibility, digital accessibility and diversity in supply spaces are perceived as the most important attributes of coworking spaces in Namibia. Post hoc comparisons of the Kruskal–Wallis test revealed significant mean differences in ranked attributes for ordinary internet between the periods before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and between the periods during and after the pandemic. Originality/value Few studies have examined the influence of the period of use of coworking preferences (pre-, during and post-COVID) in a developing-country context.
Purpose This study aims to explore how spatial design personalization influences users’ emotional, cognitive and functional experiences in immersive virtual reality workspaces (VRWSs), addressing the lack of understanding about how user-driven spatial design in VRWSs shapes workspace satisfaction and perceived productivity. Design/methodology/approach Seventy-three participants performed work tasks in a prototype of a VRWS for personalization in two conditions, baseline and personalized, and participated in semistructured narrative interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to uncover mechanisms of personalization, supported by iterative code refinement with coauthors. Findings Participants reported enhanced emotional comfort, autonomy and engagement under personalization, while baseline environments were perceived to support concentration through visual minimalism. Users tended to strongly prefer large-scale environmental personalization such as background scenery. The findings reveal a dual-path pattern in which baseline and personalized environments influence experience through distinct emotional and cognitive routes. Practical implications Designers may prioritize high-impact spatial design personalization options and support adaptive workspace layouts, while minimizing usability barriers that restrict customization. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides one of the first large-scale qualitative analyses of VRWS personalization and introduces a novel dual-path pattern explaining how different spatial designs shape user experience through emotional and cognitive mechanisms.
