MIT’s TechnologyReview.com is featuring alumni Diane Hoskins, co-CEO of Gensler, who discusses a data-driven approach to re-envisioning the office.
At Gensler, “Hoskins pioneered a research program to determine how interior spaces influence workers. Through surveys of thousands of employees each year, the firm has identified four modes of working—focusing, collaborating, learning, and socializing—each requiring different kinds of spaces. Hoskins helped develop a “Workplace Performance Index” to track the impact of space design on elements such as productivity, communication, and innovation. The firm uses those insights to custom-design the right combination of spaces for companies such as Microsoft, Etsy, and Nvidia, as well as schools, hotels, and airports. “We start with data and trends,” she says, “and then shape the design to address a company’s culture, brand, and people.”
A new data-driven approach is consistent with a recent CoreNet Global COVID tracking survey, which found that following the pandemic, workers will spend the following percentages of the work week in various locations: 46 percent in a traditional office; 43 percent home-based or other remote location; 11 percent in a co-working environment.