The effects of generic and targeted visibility on work-process interactions in open-plan offices

Abstract

Visibility within open-plan offices plays a crucial role in shaping employee behaviors, including how they interact. The main aim of this thesis is to investigate the impacts of generic and targeted visibility on work-process interactions in open-plan offices. In the first phase, adopting a qualitative approach, this study aimed to detect work-process interaction patterns through a survey in two open-plan offices with 30 employees. Survey questions related to work-process interactions were analyzed through axial analysis. The second phase of the study, adopting a quantitative approach, was conducted through generic and targeted visibility analysis and new codes written for DepthMapX. The outputs of the two phases were analyzed to comprehend the influence of generic and targeted visibility on work-process interactions in open-plan offices. The results showed that density values for 120° and 360° isovists are determinant factors for the number of work-process interactions in all generic and targeted visibility parameters. Moreover, a negative correlation was found between density parameters and the number of work-process interactions. Therefore, it was found that more visible employees per unit in 120° and 360° isovists result in fewer work process interactions in open-plan offices. In other words, it was found that when an employee has a desk with low visual privacy or high visibility, this employee avoids interacting with their colleagues in open-plan offices. Therefore, the study's findings reveal that the impact of visual privacy on work-process interactions in open-plan offices is not as same as previously thought. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that more visibility does not result in more work-process interactions in open-plan offices unless employees’ visual privacy is preserved.