Ergonomics - The science of being Human

Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci

Prelude

Leonardo da Vinci created Vitruvian man in 1490,  inspired by the preachings of architect Vitruvious. Few centuries later, Le Corbusier created Modulor.

Ergonomics

The International Ergonomics Association defines ergonomics as

“Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance”



Modulor by Le Corbusier

It starts from one’s own bedroom. The mattress & pillow is carefully chosen to sleep comfortably after day’s hard work. While we don’t want to compromise on ergonomics at our home, are we compromising our human aspects at our workplace where we work hard and spend most of our conscious time.

The Challenge

Ergonomics gets a blind spot in front of topline & bottom-line and don’t even get a mention in RFP documents. But whenever applied, it miraculously transforms the product or workplace into a success.

IPhone is a classic example. The size of IPhone is apt for most human palms (males, females, teenagers, senior citizen etc.). It fits well and is easy to operate with the thumb of same hand, leaving the other hand completely free. The geniuses of Apple’s design team in collaboration with economic masters created a product for humans as target customers. Their competitors with a huge product line are still far behind in sales. They are definitely different but not ergonomic.

Typical 9 AM – 6 PM job also demands spending 9 hrs in stressful work environment and even more in most cases. The physical workplace should work uncompromisingly to provide maximum comfort for human robots.

Ergonomics at Workplace

Workplace innovators are humans first and they play a defining role to innovate for humans instead of expecting that anything & everything works.

Understand: Be it a shop floor of the manufacturing unit or the most sophisticated cabin of the MD or simply a workplace with a maze of monitors & keyboards, the users are all humans. Observe human behavior, study working styles, analyze potential injury risks and most important of all quantify the physical impact on humans. If it involves working with social anthropologists or psychologists or orthopedics, engage them.

Innovate: Is that chair in your office can be ergonomically adjusted to provide maximum posture comfort to most users; is it possible to adjust the height of monitor screen to ergonomically suit most users; is the height of worktable on shop floor just right to minimize injuries & fatigue; is the layout promoting shortest path in case of emergency; is the lux level correct for the task; ... the list is endless

Educate: How many of the users even know that the chair they are using has many more adjustments other than height & backrest lock and probably the most important is the spring tension of backrest. Display graphics, conduct awareness campaigns, educate users on the merits of the workplace innovated by you.

Endnote

In most cases the pressures of cost gives a blind spot to the very science of being human first. While we strive to get the best for ourselves, we forget or ignore the basic facts about human anatomy while designing for our customers and fellow associates. Lowest price product might not be the best for humans, yet we sign on the dotted line knowingly or unknowingly. Perhaps, in our bid to save cost in short term, we actually end up spending much more on medical consultations in long run

Evolving Workplaces: Shaping cultures of Innovation

"Innovation" is the latest 'Mantra' to maintain growth and remain competitive in today's dynamic business environment and changing social paradigms. More and more corporates are working to align their DNA's in creating the culture of innovation. 

Corporate Real Estate teams play vital role in creating a physical environment to facilitate this culture. In fact the physical Workplace is the reflection of corporation's ideology towards innovation. Workplace planning teams are the first ones to implement innovative strategies by creating spaces and facilities which can simulate the light bulb of users and at the same time create series of interconnecting spaces where the innovations can be moulded to achieve commercial value.

Workplace Innovators - Defining & Solving the Riddle

Each organization is different and hence the difference in design brief. Exhibit 1& 2 represents generic approach in achieving the final outcome. The actual process to plan the right workplace might be very dynamic and may involve psychiatrists, anthropologist, sociologist, business strategist etc. etc. Apply these attributes while contributing to transforming workplaces from traditional to futuristic.

• Collect Data - Avoid assumptions and spend time on the shop floor, study the working habits of users, time spent in collaboration, brainstorming, leisure reading, serious work .... develop a pattern, quantify masses, create matrices.
• Get Insights - Conduct workshops, create arbitrary spaces & scenarios, generate drama  and observe the users working around these spaces to get ideas on workplace of the future
• Adopt wholistic approach - "Design and execution to go hand in hand" suggests Frank Lloyd Wright. Can a amazing facility stay amazing in long run if the corners are accessible to spiders but not to the house keeper. Can a 10 seat meeting room be called underutilized if only 3 members are using it just because they booked it well in advance. 
• Experiment with Technology - What SONY achieved with WALKMAN was achieved by APPLE with IPOD by technology innovation. Can the existing workplaces be transformed to accommodate new technologies, different teams, multiple usage, improved collaboration?

• Keep a check on Budgets - Workplaces are cost centres both Capex and Opex. Low Capex with High Opex or High Capex with Low Opex or striking the right balance ... the choice is important. Most of the time the exuberance of capital savings gives a blind spot to Operating expenses of future. 

• Think Green - Think of environmental impact and sustainablity before finalazing recommendations.

End Note

Achieving the right balance of spaces is a journey, different for different organisation. The perfect balance can only be achieved when the organisation has reached the level of complacency such that Growth & Competitiveness are no longer the priorities. Perhaps it's time for the workplace innovators to cherish their experiences and embark on a new journey

Workplace Planning – Growth & Uncertainity

Your workplace reciprocates the work culture and values promoted by your organization. At one end of the spectrum are organizations which promote themselves as workplaces with high fun quotient and at other end are the ones who believe in serious working environment. The Real Estate or Workplace planning team plays a vital role in creating the physical infrastructure around the organizations philosophy.

Workplace planning start with a basic requirement

• Number of productive seats required by the business

Other ancillary spaces such as cabins, meeting rooms, tele-presence, cafeteria etc. are added up and design brief is prepared. Organizations operational culture and industry best practices play their part in finalizing the brief.

The general thumb rules of density are applied to calculate the area to be leased out. In Indian conditions, this ranges from 50 Sqft / Workstation for BPO’s & Call centers to 200 Sqft / Workstation for MNC’s in FMCG & Financial Services. Higher the density lower is the RE leasing cost per workstation. The excitement starts in planning the workplace to incorporate future “Growth” which is “Uncertain”.

Growth can be Uncertain

Commercial Leasing

The commercial lease has two components - committed space and hard options with rights to first refusal. Hard option commitments provide additional time to decide on the future growth. The leasing team assesses the level of uncertainty and negotiates the hard option accordingly.

Workspace Planning
The business plan considers capital expenditure budgets that cover only the committed area and calculates the number of productive workstations based on the general density guidelines of their respective corporate culture and past experiences. The two important ratios which form part of business plan are “Capex / productive workstations” and “Percentage Seat Utilization”.

Broadly, the workspace planning distributes the available space between:

1.          Productive Spaces – Workstations, Cubicles & Offices

2.          Engagement Spaces – Reception, Security, Conference Rooms, Utility Room, Cafeteria & Pantry, Recreation & breakout areas, Storage & Compactors etc.

3.          Circulation Space – This is usually 30% - 35% of the total area covered in point 1 & 2

Planning “Productive” & “Circulation” Spaces is straight forward but planning of “Engagement” Spaces tests your risk appetite. Some of these spaces like conference Rooms, Training rooms, Pantry, Breakout areas etc are also easy to decide and can be located such that they are distributed uniformly around productive areas. They can be increased later along with the future growth.

But certain areas (such as Reception, Business Center, Board Room, Cafeteria & Kitchen, Interview rooms, Back of the House etc.) can’t be located at multiple locations and would require advanced planning for future growth. The real challenge lies in finalizing the size and location of these areas.

Strategize early
Conservative – Execute based on current situation without thinking about the future: As the saying goes “it’s better to have one bird in hand than two in bush”, close your eyes on future requirements and work towards executing the current needs. The project will be completed within approved budget and timelines. On a bigger picture, this approach can be more disadvantageous as additional time, money & resources will be spent in future when growth becomes certain.

Progressive – Prepare a long term strategy: This is high risk, high gain approach and tests the risk appetite of the business head. If growth happens, he will be known for his long sightedness and will benefit from this approach in future. The ratio of “capex / productive employee” goes up in short term but when Growth is certain it reduces drastically and saves lot of inconveniences later. Refer Exhibits.

Exhibits show the pattern of space utilization or density (Area / Workstation) with reference to the increase in Leasable area. It shows the density increases as the different phases are executed. The area under each phase is considered same for the purpose of this analysis. (For example: If each Phase has same area “X” and total area after Phase 3 is “3X”). Phase I has all the engagement spaces large enough to cater to all the 3 phases and hence the production density is very low.

Exhibits show the pattern of Capex / Production seat or Cost / FTE with reference to the increase in Leasable area. It shows the cost per production seat is reduced as different phases are executed and number of production seats are increased. The Engagement spaces are considered part of Phase I while Phase I & II are completely production spaces.

Adaptive – Develop Scalable Model customized to Organizations requirements – Prioritize between Productive and Engagement Spaces. Business comes first and some of the Engagement areas can happen later with growth. On Flip side, Employees are connected emotionally to Engagement spaces and compare them with other organization. Are you prepared to convince employees if some accessories are missing from your office?

End Note
Time is money. Choices are straight but tough, revenue or employees!! The decision making skill gets tested not only at the time of planning but also after start of operations. Can you strike the right balance? Are you prepared to face the challenge!!

Energy Efficient Mindset

Prelude

Saving “Energy” is more of an attitude and personal mind-set rather than just the product innovation. If the mindset is not ready to use these innovative products efficiently, the purpose of their innovation gets defeated. It is like using 5 Star rated Air Conditioner with all doors and windows open. The innovative engineering of the product will not be able to reduce the amount of electricity consumed due to lack of discipline in using it.

Think of a time when there was no mass production of electricity and oil lanterns were used to make light after sunset. There were no Air Conditioners & heaters to keep the indoors comfortable. Probably, it was the lack of resources and as it is said "Necessity is the mother of all inventions", it created the mindset of that generation to be open to experiments in architecture, building design and construction techniques to achieve comfortable building environment.

Concept

The architectural design and construction was planned around two fundamental concepts:

1.      Maximise Natural light

2.      Maximise Thermal Comfort

These two basic concepts were practically executed by designing simple elements and implementing a design discipline around the following thought points.

Methodology

Orientation – Probably this is the most fundamental element to start the design development for any climate condition.

• The longer side of the building is along the East-West or North-South axis depending if the heat gain is to be maximised (Cold climates) or minimised (Hot climate)
• More openings on the Northern side increases glare free sunlight which is relatively cooler than South Sun.
• Natural wind directions play important role in design of wind catchers and openings to get fresh air inside

Massing / Configuration – The building configuration defines the amount of surface area exposed to external climatic conditions. The ratio of floor area to its volume or amount of surface area exposed to direct sunlight determines the intensity of solar heat gain. One of the most notable design elements in Hot-Dry climatic conditions is the Courtyard (“Chowk”), which suits the two basic principles to the very core by following means: 

• Allows adequate daylight to large portions on the house.
• Generate air circulation and passive cooling by stack effect. The air in the courtyard gets warmer during the day and rises up. The cooler air replaces this air creating air circulation in the rooms.
• Generates adequate sunshade to large portion of the house thus reducing direct exposure to sunlight

External Walls & Fenestration – The building envelope insulates and protects the indoors from the exterior climatic variations and play important role in creating comfortable environment. For example: 

• Thick external walls with minimum fenestration in Hot-dry climate insulates indoors from extreme outdoors. “Jharoka” or “Mashabriya” are fine examples which cut the glare from the sunlight, absorbs heat from air and allows cooler air inside
• Large windows or Glass facade in Cold climates produces greenhouse effect increasing heat gain inside while keeping chilly winds outside
• Window Openings – Their design and position along with Sunshade (“Chajja”), louvers play important role in maintaining the thermal comfort.

Construction Material & Technique: Each region has its own set of locally available material and construction technique which at times are unique to that particular region. Modern Day Green building agencies also encourage using locally available construction material as it reduces the fuel burnt to transport material.

Other Elements such as roof forms and insulation, water bodies, Landscaping and vegetation, street width & orientation, surrounding build forms, all play a vital role in maintaining the thermal comfort and providing adequate natural light.

Endnote 

Some creators & investors are still working hard to innovate & create elements for sustainable environment but our ability to strike opportunities created by high speed growth has left us with very little time to spend on innovation and development of sustainable design elements.

Most often the vision for Top-line and Bottom-line blur the vision of creating sustainable communities. Our generation is probably the luckier one to have the technology and resources to make the living environment comfortable by mechanical means. Probably in our race for 'more' and reluctance to 'innovate', we might end up exhausting all available sources of fossil fuels and future generations will be left with no choice but to get back to these old elements of design in making their living comfortable. Who knows, there living might be even better than ours.

For now the Peter Keating(s) seems to have outnumbered the Howard Roark(s) by a huge margin.