SIRIUS
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
75%
Upgrading Experience
in Social Spaces
TEAMING
INNOVATE
CLIENT CO-CREATION
UPDATE
Physical (FF&E)
Digital Displays
Reactive Equipments
Virtual (Features)
Hospitality Services
Office Information
Enhancing Engagement
at General Amenities
DEMONSTRATE
EDUCATE
UPDATE
Physical (FF&E)
Interactive Interfaces
Entertainment Facilities
Virtual (Features)
Report & Announcement
Feedback Collection
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.