Office of the Future

I have been reflecting on my current office configuration and contrasting it with what it might be.

My recent posting on the Multi-touch screen shows the potential of a very different office environment.
In the photograph above you can see the office-worker of the future completing his tasks in front of a large, hand/finger manipulated screen (much like the iPhone). Here our colleague of the future is obviously looking for a place to eat lunch.

The size of the screen offers a large work area, quite possibly larger than the one physically available on one’s current desk. This allows many documents to be open and viewed at the same time. Yet by wall-mounting the screen, it would cover very little floor space. The large screen where electronic documents can be viewed in full-page or multiple page mode, in combination with today’s trends, we can see a point where the paperless-office comes into being. Without paper there is little need for filing cabinets and other containers. Finally, note as well that the worker is standing in front of the screen. No need for a chair.

These factors (wall-mounted; no filing cabinets, no desk, no chair) will make it possible to reduce the physical work-area required by our future counterparts. This no doubt will make people in the real estate department very happy as considerable savings could be had.

Note as well that there are no lights. In the future office lighting will not be required as this would result in glare on the screen impacting visual quality. Another benefit the real estate people can look forward to: reduced energy consumption. For the employee, we will all get to wear black clothing.

On the occasions when seating is required, 12 ways to pimp your office offers this suggestion. It looks like the perfect counterpart to the large wall-mounted screen. However, I suspect that in the future chairs will be less functional and more an ornament or overall fashion statement, thus something stylish as shown would be important .

As in today’s office environment, collaboration will be important. In the photograph below, we see how two workers could co-operate and work on the same project. Co-operation will be key in the future as problems will be more complex, often requiring the skills and perspectives of many people from multiple disciplines. This is true today, but collaboration tools are in a relatively primitive state and often lack consistent deployment. As technology is the essential part in everything we do, a poor technical foundation obviously impacts our ability to effectively work together as human beings. This is why things are so perfect in the future, as depicted in Star Trek; they have really good technology.

While these images of the future depict an idealized state comprised of large-screen displays, low lighting, and everyone wearing black co-operating to solve real business problems, there are some things to watch for. The close proximity, and the physical nature of the interaction with the screen along with the competitive elements of human nature will no doubt surface. This could result in forms of behaviour not previously experienced in the office environment, physical contention over access to the screen–the tackle against the boards. May be the some protective components will have to be added to the attire of our colleagues of the future.