User-Centered Design for Coworking Space Interiors

Coworking spaces, beyond being a physical space, represent a new organizational form and a new living style. Although coworking spaces have been widely studied by human sciences and managerial disciplines, academic studies on their spatial characteristics are limited and they are focused on some specific areas. This paper draws a multi-dimensional framework for spatial characteristics that play an important role in users' satisfaction and preference for a coworking space. In this context the paper aims to determine the user-centered spatial characteristics constituting a guide for interior design of coworking spaces and to introduce design considerations based on the research findings. The spatial characteristics are reclassified under technical, functional and behavioural characteristics (Post-Occupancy Evaluation method); an "user-centered design research for coworking spaces" structured with these characteristics is conducted, and design considerations based on research findings are introduced. The research reveals satisfaction and importance levels of spatial characteristics in coworking spaces; identifies the spatial characteristics with low performance that need to be improved; confirms the importance of spatial characteristics in users' preference for a coworking space and reveals that spatial characteristic preferences differ for users with different characteristics. The key findings regarding the user-centered spatial characteristics are “to consider the spatial configuration of noisy and quiet spaces according to the levels of interaction and privacy for users having different work motivations”, “to provide the arrangement of activity spaces, gathering spaces and workspaces (collaboration spaces and private spaces) allowing flexibility and individual control possibility” and “to create a cozy interior atmosphere with a strong IT infrastructure”. As a practical contribution, this paper provides useful information for owners, managers and designers of coworking space, in the process of renovating or establishing a coworking space.