Workplace in the Metaverse

ROLE: DESIGNER, STRATEGIST, RESEARCHER

03/22 - 05/22

Academic project completed at Cornell University & World-Leading Consulting Company with Connie Hui

Instructor: Professor Ying Hua

ABOUT THE PROJECT

A design concept for a world-leading consulting company with regard to changes in the post-pandemic world.

Embrace the broader workplace experience ecosystem by illustrating design recommendations on spatial layout, management, technology, services, and events through user scenarios.

01 INTRODUCTION

Context

Workplace Strategy Team

partners closely with Digital Innovation and Portfolio Strategy teams to make efforts in understanding how people use the space and deliver solutions to help with long-term growth. With a focus on supporting hybrid working, multidisciplinary collaboration, net zero growth, hospitality, etc., the team has equipped the workplace with functional, interpersonal, and inspirational services. Therefore, this project aims to build upon this deliberately designed environment and take the pandemic as an opportunity to transform the future of work.

The New Chicago Office

has about 200,000 RSF of space over 9-10 floors. The office will serve four teams: consultants, advanced capacity, digital ventures, and business support. As it is currently in the early stage of the design process, the target office site grants excellent opportunities for exploration and innovation.

02 FINDINGS

Journey Map

Major activities have been extracted along the journey map of consultants under the post-pandemic context. A flexible workplace empowered by digital devices appears to be the most dominant design implementation in supporting hybrid working. As part of GRE TeamScape’s vision, the physical environment not only supports productivity but should also promote interpersonal connections and individual well-being. In the journey map, informal activities during leisure time are illustrated to highlight the hospitality aspect of the facility.

Functional

Space reservation

View floor plan and guided to the room

Gain entry and open locker

Locate other people

Verify expected attendence and event

Interpersonal

Order food

Colleague profile

Inspirational

Personal Dashboard

Collective wiki

Office map & newsletter

Café

Open Work Area

Occupancy sensors

Event and Ideation Space

Real-time remote collaboration work

Genius Bar

Tech support

Secure storage

See progress and alert when finished

Convertable Offices

Screen that indicate usage

Workshop Room

Interactive touch screen

Speaker track camera

Moveable furniture

Reception

Digital display screen

Computer Software

Mobile Application

Hybrid Tool

Smart Furniture

Digital Display

Sensor

Appliance / Device

Interior Installation

Physical

Virtual

Design Opportunity 1

“Create a seamless transition in between the physical and virtual environment”

Design Opportunity 3

“Transform the function-focused facility to an experience-centered environment by adding interpersonal and inspirational services”

Design Opportunity 2

“Accommodate individual preferences in use of technology and facilitate diverse interactions in both environments”

The major factors of this uncertainty include both the nature of the activity and personal preferences, which could be a result of personality, adaptability to modern technology, demographic, social context, etc.

Make reservation

Check in at reception

Scan ID for access

Turn on lights

Turn on projector

Move furniture

eg. On-Site Working

Send ticket

Communicate issues

Monitor status

Check in device

Negotiate solution

Pick up device

eg. IT Support

Send out invitation

Join the meeting

Work using softwares

Talk to clients

Document minutes

Grab food

eg. Online Meeting

Case Studies

Gather Town

An engaging space where you can collaborate and connect with.

Simulating Physical Spaces

AWS Cloud Quest

A role-playing learning game that helps you develop practical cloud skills through interactive learning and hands-on activities using AWS services.

Gamification & Education

Lark

An all-in-one

enterprise collaboration platform by ByteDance.

Integration & Internalization

03 CONCEPT

Maximize Workplace Flexibility

Instead of predicting specific working modes, we aim to take pandemic as an opportunity to optimize consultants' workplaces by engaging them as proactive participants in the innovation process through a merged physical and virtual environment.

Stakeholders

Individuals

Consultants & Knowledge Experts

  • Travel less and work remotely with clients;

  • Training and events are conducted virtually;

  • Many prefer to have on-site training globally;

  • People have very different opinions on resources for personal development.

Teams

4 Teams at Chicago Office

  • In-person activities are going back to normal;

  • Social interactions happen mostly online or during lunchtime / after-hours;

  • People form a team based on information from colleagues gathered through casual conversations.

Organization

GRE Work Place Strategy

  • Corporate efforts in reshaping the workplace have been made with a focus on net zero growth and digital transformation;

  • Space usage data and employee experience feedback have been collected continuously.

Approaches

An Open Platform

Integrate services into one virtual platform with simulation of the physical workplace.

Approaches

“Cultivating Autonomy”

Equip people with tools to proactively manage their own style of working, living, and personal trajectory.

“Enlightening Connection”

Promote social interactions in both formal and casual settings while facilitating information sharing in the organization.

“Accelerating Transformation”

Integrate existing resources and increase employee engagement in a seamless hybrid working environment.

Personal Development

People have different opinions on working modes and educational resources.

Collaboration and Interaction

Social Interactions are beneficial for well-being and information sharing.

Future of Work

Various resources available to support changes in the post-pandemic working environment.

Insights

Design Solution

The workplace in the metaverse, similar to a parallel universe, grants easy access to resources at the company by building a big picture. It also helps people to monitor their own performances through a third-person perspective and gamified features. By creating an open platform for service integration, we envisioned driving self-motivated changes with minimum commitment and interference to their current routines.

Integrated Services

Gamified Interactions

Accessible Resources

Virtual

Environmental Simulation

Autonomy

Connection

Transformation

Physical

Technological Mediation

04 RECOMMENDATIONS

Space Types

The GRE TeamScape has categorized major functional rooms into nine space types, most serving formal working sessions and the rest for leisure. After a careful analysis of the floor plan as well as all spaces and amenities at the Chicago office, we reclassified the workplace into four broader categories and took the nine space types as goals for each of the categories to support. Some goals can be supported by two or multiple spaces. We intend to explore the unique features of each space and pair them with specific goals to be facilitated with the virtual platform.

Working Areas

Circulation Nodes

Social Spaces

Event Sites

FOCUS

Individual work alone or participating remotely with others

GOVERN

Regular updates, typically with known team members, either scheduled or ad hoc

CLIENT CO-CREATION

Innovation sessions with external parties, flexible to suit multiple activities

EVENTS

Affiliation and hospitality events, client and market-facing, function and PA events

UPDATE

More formal, scheduled, set agenda and objectives, decision making, likely to involve leadership

INNOVATE

Idea generation, brainstorming, group interactive sessions

TEAMING

Multiple activities over time in the same space (solo, group, pairs)

DEMONSTRATE

Highlighting innovations, showcasing technology and solutions

EDUCATE

Training sessions, onboarding, and seminars, broadcast-type updates, webinars

Maximizing productivity
in Working Areas

FOCUS

GOVERN

INNOVATE

UPDATE

Physical (FF&E)

Adjustable IoT Furniture

Smart Whiteboards

Virtual (Features)

Remote Office Control

Collaborative Platform

She collaborates with her online colleagues in the workshop room to brainstorm new projects. She posts some sticky notes on the whiteboard while the data is transferred to the cloud, and the new content added online by her colleagues is displayed in real-time on the smart whiteboard that Sirius is using.
Then she started working for a while, and at the same time, in the metaverse, her head would show that she was working. After some time, a reminder popped on the computer telling her that a collaboration session was coming up in another room, so she packed up her things and went to that workshop room.
In this scenario, our character Sirius is standing in front of her reserved workstation. After the sensor at the table and her phone detect each other, she can use the software to adjust the furniture, such as the brightness of the lights, the height of the table, and so on, or she can choose the one-touch preferred mode so that the furniture is automatically adjusted.
Table A47
Cancel
Occupy
09
MAY
MON
Good Afternoon
Table A47
cool
warm

75%

My Preferred Mode

Upgrading Experience
in
Social Spaces

TEAMING

INNOVATE

CLIENT CO-CREATION

UPDATE

Physical (FF&E)

Digital Displays

Reactive Equipments

Virtual (Features)

Hospitality Services

Office Information

In this scenario, Sirius is standing outside the office. She uses NFC to scan the ID in her phone to make the door open automatically. She then walks along, and when the phone locates her passing the reception, a map of the company will automatically pop up with the usage of all the workstations so that she will have a clear picture of the status of the empty seats.
Sirius
09
MAY
MON
Good Afternoon
But instead of directly go to work, she decided to go to the cafe for a cup of coffee. She used the app to place her order, and while waiting for her coffee to be made, a small avatar suddenly appeared at the top of her phone, telling her that there was a new colleague she had not communicated with nearby. She clicked on the avatar to see the colleague's profile, past projects, and her favorite type of coffee to find something to talk about.
09
MAY
MON
Good Afternoon
Café Latte
$5.30
4.6
Frappé
$4.68
4.9
Coffee
Tea
Drink
Most Popular
Recent Order
Macchiato
$5.72
4.8
Café America
$3.45
4.5
4.5
4.8
4.9
Profile
Publications & Videos
About
The Employer’s Report Card on the Future of Work
Digital Workers Are on the Move. Here’s What They’re Looking For
Why Deskless Workers Are Leaving—and How to Win Them Back
Turning a Tech Hub into a Talent Magnet
Managing Director & Senior Partner
Connie has spent the last 15 years of her nearly 30-year consulting career on driving leadership and culture changes with her clients who span industries and countries.
Iced Coffee
Capuccino
Deborah Ellmer

Enhancing Engagement
at
General Amenities

DEMONSTRATE

EDUCATE

UPDATE

Physical (FF&E)

Interactive Interfaces

Entertainment Facilities

Virtual (Features)

Report & Announcement

Feedback Collection

On the web portal, she sees a message asking her if she wants to enter the company showroom, where she is currently in the metaverse. She clicks yes and begins learning about all the successful cases done by her colleagues in Chicago.
In this scenario, Sirius is ready to leave by the end of the day. A company newsletter pops up on her phone as she walks past the lounge area. Since it is her first time visiting the Chicago office, she takes a seat to read the letter while opening up her laptop.
09
MAY
MON
Good Afternoon
Learn More
Personal Carbon Footprint Dashboard Now Available!
GRE News
Watch tutorials to learn how to monitor your own usage and win prizes for sustainable living!
She packs her stuff and walks to the gate when dinner time approaches. As soon as the door opens for her, she views another pop-up on her phone showing her daily carbon footprint, and there are also taps for her to learn more about sustainable practices and compare them with others in the office. While waiting for the elevator, the display board projects a play survey that she can answer by touching the screen or using her phone. She takes this time to reflect upon her day and gives feedback to the facility. As soon as the elevator arrives, she receives a wish from the smiley face on the app and feels excited to come to work again the next day.
09
MAY
MON
Good Afternoon
How satisfied are you with
the LIGHTING at your seat?
09
MAY
MON
Good Afternoon
Learn More
Consumption
Office Data
10am
11am
12pm
1pm
2pm
3pm
4pm
5pm
1000kg
500kg
Best Practices

Enlarging Social Impact
at
Event Sites

EVENTS

EDUCATE

CLIENT CO-CREATION

UPDATE

Physical (FF&E)

AR Display

Sensors and Cameras

Virtual (Features)

Gamified Meeting Platform

On-Site Navigation

In this scenario, users are participating in the online center for Illinois' future annual summit. Users can drag the event space map on the right to select different locations in the software. The screen on the left side simulates the user's perspective while sitting in that position. Besides that, the user can also select the three specific views, which include the speaker, guest, and axo perspectives. In the speaker view, the user can only see the speaker and the presentation's content, which allows the user to focus more on the event itself. The guest view allows the user to see other participants, while the axo perspective is a God view that gives the user an overall view of the event.

05 OUTCOMES

Individuals

How might we help individuals be aware of their lifestyle, feel welcomed at every office, and keep track of career accomplishments?

In this scenario, the employee has just returned to the office from a business trip, and on his dashboard, he can see the percentage of how much time he spent for his travel, work from home, and work in the office in the last week. The check-in at the front desk will change his status from travel to the office. Afterward, he needs to reserve a workstation according to his needs for the equipment. Once he arrives at the workstation, he can use NFC to swipe his ID to adjust all his facilities to his preset status.

As he sits down to review all of his scheduled meetings and tasks for the day, he finds an employee training that he needs to attend, which will be held offline, and the interactive projection used for the meeting will show the headshots of the participants in real-time so that everyone can have a general idea of the other participants. After completing the training, he will receive a new badge in the software to encourage him to participate more in the company's various activities.

Teams

How might we help teams allocate talent efficiently, collaborate seamlessly, and access resources easily?

In this scenario, we will first have a project kickoff in the physical environment that will use the projector to show the initial ideas and all the participating people. Then, we will use the internal talent marketplace to find the right person to form a team. After that, the client meeting will happen in both hybridity and in the physical environment; people can use technology to interact with online people.

During the collaborative working session, there will be smart whiteboards with a function similar to Miro, which can recognize who contributes. It will be synchronized so that online and offline people can interact. The client presentation will be in a similar form that will be happened in a physical space, but people can also attend virtually. After the project ends, people can use our platform to do better documentation and archive for organizational knowledge sharing.

Organization

How might we help the company take the lead in shaping future of work through workplace innovation projects?

From a managerial standpoint, we see GRE Workplace Strategy as the engine of office transformations, which would create a positive impact on the entire community. In this scenario, we illustrated the lifecycle of an innovative project by six steps, each of which will be supported by the integrated platforms.

During project kickoff, information regarding service upgrades, organizational decisions, recruiting for user tests, etc., can quickly reach a large number of audience via the online platform.

01
Project Kickoff

During the initial stage of development, the simulated environment in the metaverse can help with fast prototyping and feedback collecting on workplace innovations at a low cost.

02
Prototyping

Once the implementation completes, employees can get acknowledged about the new equipment, fixtures, and programs by attending hybrid educational sessions hosted by GRE. It is also an opportunity for TeamScape to collect initial feedback and demonstrate the best practice.

03
Internal Education
survey

The interactive nature of technology-mediated furniture and installations will strengthen people’s attachment to the office environment and encourage proactive feedback based on subjective satisfaction and mindful experiences.

04
Employee Engagement

The diversity of space usage and employee behavioral data can also be improved through enhanced user engagement. Besides passive evaluations, the platform and digital touchpoints in the physical space also encouraged proactive feedback-giving via easily accessible portals and playful means.

05
Data Collection

The last step in the project lifecycle is iteration. By accelerating the first five steps, we intend to facilitate future improvements on the project efficiently and engagingly, which lays a foundation for large-scale organizational transformation.

06
Iterations

06 SUMMARY

Benefits

Integrated Services
Gamified Interactions
Accessible Resources

Individuals

  • Keep track of one’s own trajectory and career development from a third-person perspective

  • Make knowledgable of resources and opportunities in the organization

  • Reduce workplace loneliness

  • Make awareness of personal ecological footprint and daily routine

Chicago Office

  • Allocate human resources efficiently

  • Keep track of team and project performance

  • Build strong teams and personal connections

  • Promote multidisciplinary collaboration across offices

  • Advertise successful cases in the organization

Global Real Estate

  • Consistently collect quantitative and qualitative data from the integrated platform

  • Create opportunities for workplace strategy project prototyping

  • Better connection between GAMMA GeoAnalytics, TURN, Digital Ventures, and Platinion

Company

  • Help with the net-zero strategies and navigate the low-carbon transition

  • Ensures employee productivity and individual well-being in the post-pandemic flexible working environment

  • Pioneer the systematic integration of digital technology in the physical space

REFERENCE

Heimburger, L., Buchweitz, L., Gouveia, R., & Korn, O. (2019). Gamifying onboarding: How to increase both engagement and integration of new employees. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 3–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20145-6_1

Milovanović, M., Minović, M., Štavljanin, V., Savković, M., & Starčević, D. (2012). Wiki as a corporate learning tool: Case Study for Software Development Company. Behaviour & Information Technology, 31(8), 767–777. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929x.2011.642894

Schawbel, D. (2020). Back to human how great leaders create connection in the age of Isolation. Hachette Go.