09/04/2024 • 4 min read

How Emotional Affordances Enhance Workplace Experience

Create workspaces that foster emotional well-being and connection

by Haworth, Inc.

In today’s rapidly evolving work environments, supporting employees' emotional needs has become increasingly important for their well-being and performance. Emotional Affordances, one of 3 components of Haworth’s Affordances framework, describe how environments evoke a range of emotions to influence our experience at work.

Within our framework, we look at Emotional Affordances through authenticity at the holistic space level, affinity at the community level, and well-being at the individual level.

Authenticity: Feels Right

From a design standpoint, authenticity is the degree to which a workspace reflects the values and heritage of an organization and its people.

  • Balance: Digital transformation has allowed us to work from anywhere, but the office is the hub for collaboration and interaction. Technology plays a crucial role in enabling hybrid work and optimizing space. However, it cannot completely replace human interaction or environmental experiences. 

    To create a balanced environment, prioritize both digital and face-to-face interactions and incorporate natural elements. Use technology, like virtual collaboration tools and occupancy sensors, to optimize space usage.

    For balance with nature, create spaces that allow people to spend time outdoors or incorporate biophilic design elements. This can boost well-being, reduce stress, and restore attention. The key is to find the right balance that suits your organization's needs.

  • Grounding: Grounding involves creating an emotional connection to an organization's history, legacy, and mission through design elements that reflect the company’s journey and values. For example, a prominent timeline displaying company milestones can help connect employees to the organization’s heritage and the contributions of those who came before them.

    At Haworth’s headquarters, a wooden column made from reclaimed timber spans all 3 floors of the building, symbolizing the company’s roots in West Michigan’s logging industry. This design choice helps build a connection to our organization's legacy and fosters a sense of pride.

  • Interest: Visual interest in design refers to how the complexity of a space influences emotions. Spaces with the right level of visual complexity can capture attention and enhance mood. Research suggests that a moderate level of complexity—neither too simple nor too chaotic—is most desirable. Incorporate natural patterns, like fractals, which display shapes at multiple scales. Organizations can create environments that keep employees engaged and inspired by designing visually stimulating yet not overwhelming spaces.

  • Legibility: Legibility refers to how easily people can navigate through a space and understand its purpose. In the workplace, clear navigation is crucial for reducing stress and preventing disorientation.

    For instance, well-placed signage, logical pathways, and distinguishing landmarks can help employees and visitors easily find their way. A legible environment minimizes frustration and enhances the overall user experience, making the workspace more welcoming and functional.

Well-Being: Be Content

Well-being is a subjective state of overall mental and physical health. In the workplace, well-being is facilitated through factors, such as autonomy over one’s work, feeling inspired, using the environment for mental fatigue recovery, and feeling secure.

  • Autonomy: Empowering employees with choice fosters a sense of control and satisfaction. Flexible workspaces with adjustable furniture and features like room booking software allow people to tailor the environment to their needs.

  • Inspiration: Not only does inspiration drive design but design itself can be a source of inspiration. Natural elements, historical displays, and cultural features evoke fascination and wonder, to help employees. Even architectural features like high ceilings can enhance creativity and information processing.

  • Recovery: Workspaces should support both mental and physical recovery. Comfortable lounge areas and opportunities to connect with nature can help restore depleted cognitive resources and reduce stress. Natural elements, such as plants or views of nature, can also contribute to a sense of calm and well-being.

  • Security: Ensuring that employees feel physically and psychologically safe is fundamental. Thoughtful design elements, like high-backed seating in quiet corners, offer both a sense of refuge and a wide view of the surroundings.

Affinity: Be Drawn Together

A major component of flourishing at work is feeling a sense of connection—to both coworkers and the work itself. Spaces can foster affinity in multiple ways, from facilitating belonging and interactions to promoting organizational culture and trust.

  • Belonging: A sense of belonging to a group, department, or organization at work contributes to employee well-being. A variety of ancillary spaces with comfortable, conversational furniture can foster connection. For example, soft seating areas at the end of workstation runs invite team members to come together for informal collaboration and impromptu chats.

  • Engagement: Employees who are engaged with their work are healthier and more satisfied with their lives. At the organizational level, engagement contributes to improved performance. Providing workers with various workspaces, such as activity-based work zones, is one way space design can improve engagement.

  • Interaction: Flexible spaces that can be reconfigured to support both collaborative and focused work allow for meaningful interactions, while also respecting individual work preferences.

  • Organizational Culture: The layout and design of a workplace can reflect and reinforce the organization’s culture, whether it’s focused on collaboration, innovation, or process. Understanding and aligning space design with cultural values helps create a cohesive work environment.

  • Trust: Trust is a complex concept. Interpersonally, it’s the belief in someone’s trustworthiness. Organizationally, it’s the confidence that the organization will act in one’s best interest. Space design can influence trust at both levels. For instance, when executives work in accessible, transparent offices near employees, it fosters trust and boosts engagement.

Understanding Emotional Affordances helps us recognize how the work environment contributes to employee productivity and well-being. Designs can create rich, emotive experiences that help people engage with the organization, their work, and each other—for outcomes that are beneficial all around.

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