People, Workplaces and Technology : A study of the practice of user experience in workplaces among tech companies in San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA.

Abstract: This thesis focuses on the user experience in facilities and primary workplaces. In short, the purpose was to investigate what user experience is if applied in workplaces and also how to work with user experience in workplaces.  Initially, the literature indicated that the practice of user experience is known in the application in digital settings, yet it is still quite undiscovered when applied to physical settings. Or as to say, it's not particularly referred to as user experience if practiced. There is research touching on the area of study. However, there is room for further research on the real application of user experience methods and procedures. A pre-study with a representative from the research field of this topic was presented early on, followed by an extensive literature and theories review of the area of study. In addition, the study included numerous interviews with representatives from workplace teams (with different roles and perspectives) and users (employees). The interviewees worked for tech companies located in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA – an area known for its high density of tech companies with an innovative culture. Study visits, with the purpose of real scenario observation of how the workplaces were designed and operated, were another important contributor to the empirical findings.  The results showed applications of user experience in workplaces. That included perspectives of users, physical attributes, intangibles (such as feelings of connection and community created), and also external incitements. Additionally, to empathize with the diverse work among users and management, the workplace teams needed to be composed of various areas of expertise. Methods for empathizing included surveys, interviews, apps, service platforms, workshops, storytelling/listening sessions, ‘space champions’, and experiments. However, there was also an expressed need for improvement in the empathizing procedures. To summarize, there was an agreement of the exploratory time ahead in terms of workplaces, and users, which was further discussed in the reflection part of the thesis.