The Difference Face-to-Face Meetings have on us
Gellisch and teammates report that “To examine the implications of the transition from face-to-face to online learning from a psychobiological perspective, this study investigated potential differences in physiological stress parameters of students engaged in...
Co-Working Space and Knowledge Spillovers
Roche and colleagues report that they “examine[d] the influence of physical proximity on between-firm knowledge spillovers at one of the largest technology co-working hubs in the United States. Relying on the random assignment of...
Different places different thoughts
Schertz and teammates report that they “measure[d] differences in thought content and affect throughout a one-hour environmental exploration of a nature conservatory and a large indoor mall. . . . while visiting the conservatory,...
Connecting to a Place
We build relationships with places just as we do with other people and those relationships can be good or not so great. Also, as with humans, there are advantages to positive relationships, the sorts...
Building in familiarity
Humans usually like to be in places that seem familiar to them—but familiar does not mean exactly the same as spaces previously encountered, just consistent with those other places in important ways, areas where...
What is Home-y?
Many a quest is underway to create a place where someone or other, or some group or other, will feel at home. Workplaces, restaurants, stores, healthcare facilities . . . you name it, even actual...
What makes a happy home?
In 2019 the Happiness Research Institute released The GoodHome Report 2019: What Makes a Happy Home? and their findings echo those shared above: “after surveying over 13,000 people and interviewing nearly 80 people in 10 European...
Designing for Bonding
Design can influence the bonds we form with other people, just as it can affect how attached we feel to a space. We’ll form more positive and lasting attachments to other people in certain...
Moving beyond Bonding to Trusting
Design can make it more likely that people trust each other in few very concrete ways: Design that eradicates bad moods will lay a strong foundation on which trust in others can build. Designing...
The Most Common and Important Errors Design Professionals Seem to Make
None of us are perfect, even people who design for a living. Unfortunately, design professionals regularly do the following things, which are oh so very un-good for the people using what they’ve designed: Signalling...
Garden Rooms
Margaret Roach reports on “garden rooms” (“The Art of Making Garden Rooms,” https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/realestate/the-art-of-making-garden-rooms.html) in The New York Times. She focuses on the development of the Sakonnet Garden, “a private landscape in coastal Rhode Island”...
Ah the Trees of Paris…
Trees matter, a lot. Looking at them helps us revitalise our tired brains and they help keep temperatures, and stress levels in check just for starters. Writing about trees in Paris, Vivian Song (“Admiring...
Balcony Benefits…
Peters and Masoudinejad studied balconies’ roles in people’s lives. Their work indicates that balconies can be handy because they can be converted from one use to another, which is especially useful when, for whatever...
Nature and Nurture?
Koivisto and Grassini conclude “that humans may have an inherited hard-wired tendency to respond with positive affects [moods] to nature, whereas the affective responses to urban scenes are more influenced by individual factors. ....
Do we zoom creativity out of us?
Brucks and Levav investigated creativity during Zoom-type sessions. They found via a lab study (involving participants worldwide) and a field study that “videoconferencing inhibits the production of creative ideas. By contrast, when it comes...
Natural environments and positive effects
Koivisto and colleagues share that “Exposure to natural environments has positive psychological effects. These effects have been explained from an evolutionary perspective, emphasizing humans’ innate preference for natural stimuli. . . . The source...
Human-like product design
Chen, Sengupta, and Zheng studied responses to anthropomorphizing products (i.e., those that seem more humanlike). They determined that “product anthropomorphism enhances consumers’ intention to share positive thoughts in their word-of-mouth (WOM) communication about such...
Window views
Buying or building a home or planning to move? If you answered yes, you’ll be intrigued by Chamilothori and teammates’ findings about how the openings (windows) in a building’s façade influence in-structure experiences. Via...
Nature Soundscapes help us focus and more…
In a recent study “EEG and Heart Rate data were recorded from 10 participants within an [real-world] office in London. Each participant listened to a Moodsonic Soundscape (lapping lake waves) . . . and...
Headphones and Privacy
Mueller and colleagues share that “Office workers lately use active noise-cancelling (ANC) headphones to improve the acoustic situation by blocking unwanted sound. . . . Two studies were conducted to examine if ANC headphones...
Circadian Rhythms and Weight Gain….
There’s a new reason to install circadian lighting: weight management. Teruel and colleagues determined that “Disruption of the circadian clocks that keep the body and its cells entrained to the 24-hour day-night cycle plays...
Reduce stress – exercise outdoors!
Das and Gailey studied the implications of exercising in green spaces during the pandemic. They report that “Previous cross-sectional literature reports protective effects of outdoor exposure on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. We...
Music and Pain
Howlin, Stapleton, and Rooney collected information from adults experiencing acute pain. They share that “Music is increasingly being recognised as an adjuvant [auxiliary] treatment for pain management. Music can help to decrease the experience...
Views outside help prevent us from getting lost…
New research confirms that being able to see outside as we travel through a building helps us keep from getting lost. Qi, Lu, and Chen report that “General hospitals in China always present significant...
Colours and Concert-Halls
Chen and Cabrera studied experiences in concert halls; select surfaces were different colours for the various conditions tested. Study participants rated “loudness, reverberance, and their visual and auditory preference for multiple virtual reality scenes...
Colour and Taste – Sweet and Salty
Wang and Chang studied colours used on popcorn packaging and report that “Four experimental package design colours (red, blue, yellow, and white) and three popcorn tastes (sweet, salty, and tasteless) were used to evaluate...
Late Night Sets
Wonder how talk shows seem to have all ended up with the same sets? Read Jacqui Palumbo’s article in CNN style, “How the Late Night Talk Show Set Became an American Icon” (at https://www.cnn.com/style/article/late-night-set-design-history/index.html). ...
Avoid that coffee before you shop?
Biswas and team report that “Consumers often shop online and in physical stores immediately after or while consuming caffeine. This is further facilitated by the increasing prevalence of coffee shops and also with some...
Flying high!
It may seem that planes, trains, automobiles, buses, and other vehicles that move you from place to place (and some that you’ve only seen on a screen somewhere, such as spacecraft), are designed entirely...
Plants, Biophilic Design and Technology…
Plants and Biophilic Design You’re very apt to see potted plants, real or artificial, in any transit hub because research has shown that when plants are present in public spaces, people are friendlier, which...
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