As the nature of work in today’s knowledge economy has changed, we have come to expect more from our work environments. With growing demands for more effective collaboration, decision making and innovation to drive competitive advantage, pressures on the built environment have snowballed.
Following in the footsteps of Silicon Valley’s leading lights, businesses across the globe have looked to create environments that inspire, stimulate and motivate their people – and “collision spaces”, “scrum rooms” and “water cooler moments” have all become a firm part of the workplace lexicon.
While many of these efforts have focused on maximising the kind of informal encounters that have been shown to spark creative and innovative thinking, the latest workplace technologies are giving rise to tough new design challenges.
The development of sophisticated digital collaboration platforms has made it possible for teams to work together across distance, time and disciplines at previously unimaginable speeds and scales. As a result, organisations are increasingly aware that their physical spaces need to match and support the functionality of the virtual spaces underpinning their work.
At Ludic, we are fascinated by this intersection of the physical and virtual. Based on extensive research, our DesignWork Spaces are built to integrate seamlessly with SmartLab, our state-of-the-art cloud-based transformation platform, to facilitate collaboration, decision making, learning and innovation like never before.
DesignWork Spaces are configured to meet all the physical, virtual, multimedia and creative requirements of these processes, enabling groups of different sizes to work together effectively and efficiently, using the same spaces time and time again.
Our immersive environments are famous for helping teams get results quickly and cost-effectively. In our experience, the most successful spaces are:
Adaptive
Spaces are designed to adapt quickly over time as the teamwork moves from one stage to the next and needs change. They are flexible, enabling large group structured learning, smaller group work, individual work and formal, informal and collaborative learning and working. Such varied processes, when supported by an inspiring space that adapts to the journey of the decision making, enable the transformation of complex problems into new opportunities.
Rich knowledge environments
Ludic’s DesignWork Spaces are knowledge rich. They are equipped with technology, processes and data which enable users to explore information quickly, make decisions and document their ideas in any format, as required. Enabling, simple-to-use tools such as multi-touch collaboration tables and screens accelerate the processing of information, while digitally augmented whiteboards capture anything written anywhere in real time. Resources for exploring, prototyping, simulating, production and collaboration are readily available.
Supported by technical and subject matter experts
These support teams create a virtual environment that contains the knowledge content as well as outcomes of the decision making. This may be designed and built in real time and in collaboration with the learning group as part of the learning process. The virtual environment contains the tools required to continue to work, share knowledge and develop ideas online.
Multimedia
DesignWork Spaces provide professional-quality production equipment to foster learning and innovation through producing as well as consuming multimedia. The space may be configured as a studio, production and post-production environment to enable the creation of media by and for the group. This type of “collaborative authoring” is a powerful learning tool and may be supported by teams of creatives, from filmmakers to scribes. Participants are enabled to not only create material but also distribute it.
Designed to support prototyping and simulation
When a large group is engaged in collaborative work, it may be useful to construct visual and physical models of conceptual ideas. The innovation process requires activities such as simulation, prototyping, the playing of games, the construction of small worlds, scenario testing and modelling. DesignWork Spaces support these activities with tools that range from construction materials for modelling, spreadsheets for financial modelling and online games, to large surfaces for writing and iterating ideas, dynamic work walls for moving information around the space and areas for role-play.
From “pop-up” units to full navigation centres, find out more about how Ludic’s unique approach to DesignWork Spaces can help you take teamwork to the next level and your work spaces into the future.
