While working from home during the corona pandemic, many people soon became aware of the importance of ergonomics through the very lack of it. According to the Institute for Employment Studies in the UK, one third of respondents experienced aches, pains and discomfort in their necks or backs at the beginning of the pandemic while working from home. Health was not just affected by the way people sat while working. A study from the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at Tokyo University compared physical activity and sitting still among people working in an office with those working from home. The study showed that people working from home did so for longer periods, standing up less often and doing less physical work than those who were at their workplace. Because they had no need to travel to work e.g. by cycling or walking between meetings during working hours, they engaged in less physical activity. With this in mind, perhaps exercise bikes and treadmills will be just as self-evident and important as future tools in the home office as ergonomic office chairs and desks.

A study from the University of Southern California showed that working from home also affected mental health. People who lived alone and worked full-time from home felt that the lack of physical interaction with people gave rise to social isolation and depression. Fuzzy work/life boundaries could also make it difficult to disengage mentally from work, increasing symptoms of stress and anxiety. Andrew Lynch, COO at Huckletree, described the problem some employees experience as ‘living at work’ rather than working from home. In the future, where work actually takes place will depend on the prevailing need – sometimes it will be better to work from home, and sometimes at the office. This is where the office plays an important role as a culture carrier and venue for productive meetings, conversations, problem solving and brainstorming, while individual tasks can be done elsewhere. This will place greater demands on chairs that can be adapted to suit the workplace and the home office. Some people will want chairs designed for both the office and the home office, while others will understand that different chairs meet different needs depending on their setting and the jobs they have to do.

Putting humans first – ergonomics and health

According to the PWC report entitled Workforce of the future – the competing forces shaping 2030, 73 per cent of us believe that technology can never replace the human brain. A focus on the human aspect will create tomorrow’s dynamic workplace where an increasingly important work environment will be even better than it was before. Today’s emphasis is largely on the individual and soft values such as identity, development, inclusion and experiences. And this has a bearing on the way offices should be designed. As our working lives become more flexible, so too must the physical work environment. Ergonomics plays an important part in making sure a chair will suit many individuals and be just as comfortable at home as in the office. Portable, ergonomic furniture in touch-down areas and places for focused work will be taken to the next level, and also taken for granted. Mobility and adaptability will be at the heart, and not only reflected in furnishings in general, but also in the workplace chair itself. Because we do a better job when we feel good physically and mentally, ergonomics and human-centred design will optimize the balance between employee strengths and limitations. A study from the McKinsey Global Institute shows that employees suffer less stress and take less sick leave in companies that invest in employee health.

Enhancing the office experience – when our senses encounter technology

The smart office features we take for granted today, such as smart phones, tablets, wireless speakers, voice control and motion sensors that switch on the lights when we enter the room, will evolve. But how will AI affect design itself and the way we experience the office? AI-driven interfaces provide more space since digital displays need no longer be mounted on walls, stands or even remain on top of the desk. When we’re able to display information in 3D in thin air, there will be less need for multiple monitors and computers. Today, we interact with technology mainly through eyesight and hearing. The World Economic Forum and the Penketh Group are in no doubt that AI will continue to change working life by transforming workplaces into multi-sensory environments that will revolutionize the employee experience.

According to predictions, the next digital revolution will be based on digital experiences that interact with us through the ‘internet of senses’ (IoS). This will be made possible by artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), 5G and automation. According to Ericsson ConsumerLab: Ten Hot Consumer Trends 2030, to which 46 million early tech adopters responded, consumers predict that screen-based experiences in 2030 will be competing with multi-sensory experiences that are difficult to distinguish from reality. According to Ericsson Research, half of the world’s smart phone users believe everyone will wear AR glasses by 2025. As consumers step further into the digitized sensory world, augmented reality will enable laptops to translate language directly, control the sound environment and enable us to experience smell, taste, textures and even feel temperatures digitally! When we are able to understand what a meeting participant is saying in real time even though we don’t speak the same language, and know what it feels like to be in a participant’s meeting room, our perception of tomorrow’s digital meetings will change.