PRODUCTivity
How can products help efficiency in the modern workspace?
Jack Hands
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INTROduction 3-4 PRODUCTivity
/Time 5-8 /Horology 9-12 /Time representation 13-18 /A Glass Of Water 19-22 /Materials 23-24 /Time in a modern day routine 25-26 /Mindful Test 26-28 /Interesting Moments 29-38 /Why I chose office 39-40
Office Time
/Time Management 41-52 /Productivity 53-58 /Pomodoro Test 1 59-62 /Pomodoro Test 2 63-72 /Light Test 73-78 /Summary and Rules 79-85 /Concepts 85-92
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INTROduction My project focuses on two main areas of modern day productivity. The pschology of time managment and organisation, PRODUCTivity. And potential working environments, workSPACE
“Western culture typically views the mind, the body and the environment separately, but science is showing that they are intricately linked, as Eastern cultures have long known,�
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PRODUCTivity
This research document is looking at the current issues facing productivity in the modern workspace. As productivity and innovation are notoriously difficult to monitor and calculate I used a variance of reseacrch techniques to gain an understanding in this area
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Time The original question I posed for my exploration was: How to create an appreciation of time in a modern day routine? In the current day Western world, the restraints of time and time management weigh heavily on many proffesionals. The unnatural precission of digital time creates an added level of stress and a more pressured working day.
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Horology Before the mechanical and technological advancements of the modern day clocks, time was represented in many different physical forms. The study of these time keeping devices is called Horology.
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A Brief History Of Time
Ancient Egyptian Obelisks were the earliest shadow clocks
Little is known around the origins of timekeeping. Megalithic civilizations, monitored time through annual events such as solstices and equinoxes.
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Water clocks weren’t reliant and weather or time of time. A large bowl of water emptied and signified a duration of time
Obelisks were simplified to sundials, divided evenly into 12 in relation to the lunar cycles.
Ancient Greeks developed the water clock to a conical shape to give even water distribution, improving accuracy
Plato added lead balls to the water and angled it over a copper plate. This was the earliest known alarm clock.
Candle clocks originated in China but spread worldwide. It provided a light by which to read the time.
Incense sticks with calculated chemical compounds burnt for a certain duration without the fire hazard. Hourglasses were reintroduced 14th Century sailing, using the same principle as the water clock.
The pendulum clock furthered the mechanism, boasting only a loss of 10 seconds per day
The introduction of microelectronics meant that quartz based clocks could be produced cheaply and accuratley
QUARTZ
The water clock was further improved by gears which moved a pointer around a cicular readout
The introduction of the verve escapement mechanism proved the beginning of precision timekeeping
The use of quartz crystals again increased accuracy of time keeping.
The introduction of digital time based on atomic clocks allowed time to be unconcievabley accurate
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Snarkitecture x COS - Glass Marble Run
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Process An interesting aspect of time monitoring is the process of an event happening. The duration of the process is a measurement of time but it isn’t the focus. This is articulated in a lot of natural human timings: “I’ll do that once i’ve finished this” It isn’t a specified duration but an understood moment that dictates the next.
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Stoft - Whittle Away Cabinets
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State Change A product that shows a duration of time through physical changes in the product itself. The attraction to a state change visualises a prolonged connection to a product and therefore a more meaningful one.
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Temperature Change A more instinctive and instant represenation of time is the appearance of an irregular temperature. This can completely change the experience of the product.
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A Glass Of Water (Process) Taking inspiration from the earliest forms of clocks, water clocks, I thought about how I could physically represent time as a process. By creating different sized “plugs� for the funnel I tried to regulate how fast the water would pass through. In this instance the pouring of the water is a timed process that leads to a glass of water at the end for the user to drink. I used blue food colouring to make the water more visible in the experiment.
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Leather I looked at leather as a potential material becuase of it’s inate ability to record time. A hard wearing material that stands the test of time but also tells a story of time through wear over it’s lifetime. Creases from continued use in certain areas give an indication of use without instruction.
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Marble Marble in a similarly opposite effecthas a feeling of natural quality and is often associated with long lasting and it’s resistance over time. An expensive material but mimicked in cheaper solid surface materials such as corian.
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Modern Time In a modern day routine we are bombarded with definite times throughout the day. Where we have to be, meetings, schedules, constraints and above all, stress. I wanted to look at points in a modern day routine when time was not particularly considered and what pushes us to think of it.
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Mindful Test To gain a greater understanding of moments in a day when people were mindful of time I created some credit card sized monitoring diaries. I was hoping with the use of these I could see patterns between when and where time was at the forefront of people’s minds. The user should write down whenever they procrastinate, pull out their phone or think of the card. Then write what they were doing and what it was that distracted them or made them stop.
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Mindful Test Results The results from the mindful tests we’re pretty dissapointing. I think this is perhaps because I was unsure what I wanted as a result and therefore people who used them weren’t too sure what time I was interested in monitoring. However I did get some results and on recieving the cards back, because participants had been trying to understand the value of time I got some snippets of interviews and insights.
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Morning Shower One of, if not the first thing popular to do on a morning is a morning shower. We use it to wake up, to revitalise and to take some alone time to assess the day ahead. It is a difficult area for product innovation due to environment but also the need to be clear of any distractions “The shower is me time, I like how I can’t hear anything but my own thoughts” -Paul, 29
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Public Transport While on public transport, there is a strange helplessness among the passengers that they cannot control the speed the transport moves. This creates an interesting moment in modern day where time is almost irrlevant. It is also a point that you can reach a large varied amount of people every day. It is also a moment in which people are besotted with mobile phones, an extremely introvert moment in public.
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Morning Coffee The short 10-15 minute period on the morning in a working office when congregate round the coffee machine can be the most productive time of the day. Objectives set in this early stage can manage the entire days schedule. It’s the casual surrounding that we find ourselves in that doesn’t depend on work and output but more getting what is on our mind out in the open.
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11AM/2:30PM Lull Though this seems to vary on a daily basis aswell as person by person, the focus drops after around 2 hours of being on a set task. At this point many refer to their phones to provide a needed dopamine rush or popular social media sites. This is frequented throughout the day particularly with a younger generation workforce. The 2:30 lull has been attributed to our circadian rhythym and that a natural time to sleep is roughly this time in a regular routine.
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The Office As in any work environment, time is money. By putting a distinguished value on time in an office environment I think it will be the most interesting place to look. Designing within an office space provides a target demographic that is constantly evolving.
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Not Important
3 Delegate
4 Eliminate
Important
1 Do
2 Plan
Urgent
Not Urgent
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Time Management Time management plays a major role in accomplishing certain targets and goals in a specific time. It also helps people to allocate urgent tasks ahead of important ones which is often difficult. The main points of time management are: Creating an environment conducive to effectiveness Setting of priorities Carrying out activity around prioritization. The related process of reduction of time spent on non-priorities Incentives to modify behavior to ensure compliance with time-related deadlines.
The Eisenhower Matrix
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Time Tracking Many companies use time tracking to monitor the amount of work they do on a project. This is particularly important if charging an hourly rate and keeping a record of time spent on a project. There are multiple applications that log this information digitally and organise projects into percentage times. I spoke to Martin from Cohda, a design consultancy, who uses a timetracking app on his laptop: “Initially it was difficult to get to grips with logging the time, working at larger, in-house engineering firms means that time is managed higher up. After a while though it becomes second nature.�
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Tiller A tactile plug in that allows users to monitor their work hours and time track through rotary interaction. This gives the identified time a sense of purpose and allocation. This device is used for consultancies and freelancers to monitor work done for particular companies and projects.
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Coin Test (State Change) To gain a more tangible understanding of time management I monitored my time using 10 pence pieces. I started with ÂŁ4.80, each 10 pence representing 10 minutes to accumulate to an 8 hour working day. This required me assigning allocated time to a task and with the differing weight and height of the stacks provided a visual and tangible representation of my time.
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Time Management I ran the test over the course of a week to review my results. Though the tangibility of time allocation was nice and helped me to organise tasks somewhat I found that: -The first task always went over my allocated time, this reinforces the “eat the frog� technique -As the week grew on I was better at allocating time outside of work and being more realistic with my breaks - Most days I was over-ambiotious and only achieved 3 of the 5 or so tasks that I had assigned myself
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“THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO DO IT, IS TO DO IT” -AMELIA EARHART
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Productivity Productivity is the efficiency of the work being performed. It can be affected by multiple things and there are numerous methods to achieving a better productivity rate. These are often independantly employed by individuals trying to improve their work. As with Time-tracking, many productivity methods are presented in app forms as they are cheap to produce and available to the masses. Howver, the tangibilty of understanding and monitoring time is lost with them.
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“Eat The Frog” Technique The Eat the frog technique is by prioritizing the task that you need to do at the start of the day leaving the rest of the day to focus on less important tasks. Often the tasks that we “need” to do aren’t nessacarily the most enjoyable but it is probably the worst thing you’ll have to do that day.
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Pomdoro Technique The Pomodoro technique was developed as a productivity method in the late 80’s by Francesco Cirrilo during his University studies. Using a traditional kitchen timer he would set work intervals in which he would work constantly with assigned 5 minute breaks in between. Through development and what has became his life’s work he created the highly acclaimed Pomodoro technique and accompanying book. Simplified the technique is as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Decide on the task to be done. Set the pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes). Work on the task. End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper. If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to step 2. After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.
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Pomdoro Test 1 To get an understanding of the method I used the technique for a week while performing various tasks for my dissertation and exploration project. At the start of the day I assigned the tasks that I wished to get completed that day and organised my day around it. I used a timer on my smart phone for 25 minute intervals and the 5 minute breaks in between.
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Pomdoro Test 1 Findings The majority of the time I found that the technique did seem to make me more efficient. You find that because the breaks are due, the allocated work time can be fully appreciated. The issues I found were: I was sometimes assigned a break when I didn’t particularly want one. To truly try the method I continued with taking breaks when the alarm went off but it didn’t make a difference whether I was in a work flow or not. Because I was using a phone as my means of timing, when I reached my break I was turning the alarm off, then proceeding to top up on my social media outlets and messages I had missed during the time. A waste of a break? It didn’t account for the fact that I would have interruptions such as a delivery, a wasp coming in my window, a toilet break. Sometimes because it had interrupted me during a good thought I felt urgent to get back to work, I spent the break thinking about the work I was going to do when I got back from the break. I felt more productive after the first few pomodoros when I was truly beginning to feel a work flow.
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Pomdoro Test 2 I ran a test inspired by the Pomodoro technique, however, I ran the test slightly differently by removing all time keeping aspects from the room, I took down clocks, covered laptop screen corners, but most importantly took everyone’s phone. This was related to time but more so because of the blatant distraction a phone causes in a modern work day. I monitored the time and assigned the breaks. However, in my own experience I found the Second Pomodoro was when I was beginning to hit my work flow and wanted to test this theory with a wider audience so I scheduled the breaks as: 25 minutes - 5 minutes 35 minutes - 5 minutes 30 minutes - 5 minutes 20 minutes - 20 minutes
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Working Solo The most effective use of the technique was users who sat alone and worked independantly. Often with headphones to increase isolation
Phones Out Those who weren’t involved in the test who had kept their phones we’re often seen distracted by them, even when on a task that required their attention.
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Social Media Even with the removal of phones, or perhaps because of the removal of phones, some we’re still accessing social media sites.
Multiple Touch Points From an intial idea I recognised a potential issue. In creative projects, different pens are used for different functions. I also noticed that people seemed to commonly work from screen to page quite fluently.
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Food & Drink It was common to have food and drink on the table in front of the user. In the case of Christie he wanted to break for Lunch at 11:45 which is typically quite early which could indicate that the food being in peripheral vision caused him to feel hungry earlier.
Big Talk Often instigated by people who weren’t involved in the Pomodoro test, talking was by far the biggest distraction. However, in the creative industry it is often common to develop ideas through conversation. It is difficult to distinguish between productive and unproductive chat.
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Pressure Monitoring If I “caught” someone being unproductive I wasn’t saying anything but the users often recognised themsleves that they were off task and felt the need to apologise.
Video Monitoring An unforseen distraction was the big video camera that I was operating around the room. Some people just can’t resist the red light.
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Light Test I set up a lighting test to understand a person’s natural interation with an interuption. As the pomodoro technique and time management methods currently work with naive alarms and buzzers I hoped to look at creating a more subtle notification and a more natural interaction with it. I set up a light on the desk and told the users it was gesture and touch controlled, if a break had been allocated to early, they could gesture to the lamp and it would understand and prolong their time on the task.
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Light Test Results The most common interaction was a swipe from left to right in front of the lamp, almost shooing away the notification. The hand also went from a lower postion to a higher position which could also be tracked. The confusion for people came when they were accepting the break, as the most instinctive interaction is nothing, to move away from the desk or to sit back and relax
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Light Test Arduino After understanding what interactions were the most natural with the light I created an arduino board using a gesture sensor. When the light turns a gesture of a left to right swipe in the X plane or a low to high in the Z plane turned the LED off.
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Summary I want to summarise my learnings of the research project and where my innovation space would sit in productivity. I created a set of rules that would help me to shape a product for this market.
1.Tangible My design will be a physical product that helps to understand time in the office. A more tangible solution to a time based issue could create a more relevant perception of time. Tangibility between weight and amount has a psychological link and can be monitored using load sensors
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2.Anti-Phone My design will positively prevent or obstruct the distraction of a phone. A major issue that is begining to emerge in time absorption is our obsession and addiction to mobile phones throughout our daily routine.
3. Connected The product itself should seem primitive but connected to a technical device. Data taken from a connected product can be more technically analysed, understood and improved. However the interaction with product should not seem technologically based.
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4.Smart The product should be able to learn and understand user behaviour through continued use. An open-plan office environment will be continually interupted making naive time monitoring, tracking and productivity methods useless.
5.Pleasureable The product should make the experience of time monitoring, interesting and enjoyable. A product or device that doesn’t recognise humanistic factors or account for natural interaction will be viewed as a hinderance and therefore be unsuccessful
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Concept 1 A tangible time management device that uses different weighted totems to monitor, track and organise a daily schedule. Aimed at smaller consultancy who not only have to organise time efficiently but record work done for each of their clients. This would be connected to data and time logged on a project through an external device. If more time was needed the user could “add� more time by adding more weights. Using an Arduino and multiple load sensors this information would be quite easy to read and articulate.
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Concept 2 A connected desk tidy that monitors work rate and flow. A product that helps the user to organise their desks aswell as their time. Through continued interaction with the device it would learn when to schedule breaks throughout the day and week. An important aspect of this would be a place for everything and everything in it’s place, but more importantly an area to store the major distraction of a phone while doing work.
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43 Minutes 14 seconds
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Concept 3 A desk lamp with a personalised Pomodoro technique. from my test results, 25 minutes is not always the optimum duration of a pomodoro and the interuption of a buzzer or alarm is too intrusive and distracting in itself. A connected desk lamp that learns a users ideal work and break time and signals the result using ambient light.
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Concept 4 A time management device that uses a moving object to simulate the passage of time. Tasks can be assigned to the device from an external laptop or mobile phone that will articulate the tasks of the day and can be interacted with to “rewind� or extend the time on an assigned task.
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Any comments or queries please contact me at: jack.hands.design@gmail.com
...Thankyou