Relationship between the design characteristics of activity-based flexible offices and users’ perceptions of privacy and social interactions

Activity-based flexible offices (AFOs) provide a variety of workspaces to meet the need for social interactions and privacy at work. This study investigates the relationship between the design characteristics of AFOs and users’ perceptions of visual and acoustic privacy and social interactions. This case study is based on post-occupancy evaluations in three AFO layouts at a public service organization in Sweden. A mixed-method approach is adopted that combines questionnaires and layout analysis. In general, the results showed that while aesthetics received the highest satisfaction scores, office functionality, task support, storage and visual and acoustic privacy received the lowest ratings. Key design characteristics for AFOs were operationalized, observed and exemplified: zone diversity, proportion, readability, spatial enclosure, sharing ratios and functionality of furniture and tools. These insights may contribute to better-informed decisions about the design characteristics that influence privacy and social interactions in AFOs.