1st Edition
A Practical Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation and Researching Building User Experience
A Practical Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation offers high-level pragmatic guidance and case study examples on how to conduct a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) to determine whether a workplace project is successful and uncover the lessons learned for future projects. For designers, POEs provide essential predesign feedback, informing the design brief to determine occupant requirements and help focus expenditure. For those in charge of a building or buildings, POE offers proactive building management and can also be used as part of the change management programme in larger projects, informing the occupants of progress. The practical guidance offered in this book will help the workplace industry understand if a design meets the requirements of an occupier and measure the success of and value offered by a workplace project.
This book will be of interest to professionals in the workplace industry responsible for delivering and evaluating capital projects as well as those studying interior design, architecture, surveying, facilities management and building services engineering.
Biography
Dr Nigel Oseland is an environmental psychologist, workplace strategist, change manager, researcher, international speaker, lecturer and published author with 11 years of research and 25 years of consulting experience. In his consulting business, he draws on his psychology background and his own research to advise occupiers on how to redefine their workstyles and rethink their workplace to create working environments that enhance individual and organisational performance and deliver maximum value. Nigel’s design projects are evidence-based and he conducts a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) as part of each project.
Since 1996 Nigel has conducted over 100 POEs using his own and other organisations’ methodologies. He authored the British Council for Offices Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation in 2007. Nigel facilitates regular training workshops on POE, attracting participants from around Europe, some employed in the corporate world and others working in the public sector or for higher education institutions. He also lectures on POE at The Bartlett, University College London, and has presented on POE at conferences around the globe. Nigel also created the original Wikipedia entry on POE.
Nigel has published over 150 academic articles and has contributed to chapters in numerous books including Architecture Beyond Criticism: Expert Judgment and Performance Evaluation (Preiser at al, 2015) and Building Performance Evaluation: From Delivery Process to Life Cycle Phases (Preiser, Hardy and Schramm, 2018). Nigel’s most recent book Beyond the Workplace Zoo: Humanising the Office (Oseland, 2022) emphasises the importance of POE.
Nigel spends his spare time regularly gravel biking in the nearby Chilterns, and occasionally downhill mountain biking in Wales and the Alps. He is a member of his local Toastmasters International speakers club where he hones his presentation skills. Nigel is a budding beer sommelier and organises the annual local beer festival and other beer-related events. Nigel also presents a weekly show on his local community radio station.
"Following the publication of this book, there can no longer be any excuse for not understanding the role or value of POE. On the one hand, this book is comprehensive and hugely informative, while on the other hand it is highly readable to both technical and lay readers. The book is necessarily highly structured, and delves into the detail of POE methodologies, but Nigel’s writing style is welcoming and largely non-technical."
- Rob Harris, Principal, Ramidus Consulting
"A timely and much needed book given how far and how fast the world of work has changed over the last few years. The ability to adapt the places and ways in which we work is now one of the key drivers of organisational and individual performance and resilience. The death of the office may have been greatly exaggerated, but it has emerged from the paroxysms of the last few years with a new and constantly evolving role. Nigel Oseland has set out clearly, with plenty of examples, how managers can gauge where they are, their direction of travel and the ways in which they might pause, change course or accelerate to deliver a better workplace experience for people and better results for the organisation."
- Mark Eltringham, Publisher of IN Magazine and workplaceinsight.net
"If you have more than 20 people on your team, either a corporate, academic, or other type of organisation, I highly recommend this book. It's our go-to practical guide for conducting POE research, arguably the single most important task in workplace change projects. With in-depth advice and invaluable case studies it's an essential resource for designing high-performance workspaces."
- Alenka Kragelj Erzen, CEO Kragelj Architects
"Oseland uncloaks the complexities of POE and, again, has produced an informative, easy-to-read, go-to resource. He emphasises POE as a critical aspect of the evidence-based design approach and reminds us to move beyond the view of ‘what we got wrong’ and, instead, embrace how we can do better. In the changing world of the workplace, from hybrid working, health and well-being and Carbon Net Zero, it is clear the time for permanent and consistent use of the POE has come."
- Paige Hodsman, Concept Developer, Workplace Specialist, Saint-Gobain Ecophon
"This book spells out so many benefits of POE, with examples of varied approaches to meet the range of client objectives. With the cost of POE so marginal, the proposition for it is persuasive - a stepping stone to enhanced effectiveness."
- Ziona Strelitz, Founder Director, ZZA Responsive User Environments
"This book discusses post-occupancy evaluation through a wide range of viewpoints. It covers the multifaceted nature of office buildings and the methodology available for evaluation processes from both user experience and building performance points of view. Nigel Oseland's practical and experienced approach to the subject provides valuable guidelines for setting up and fine-tuning post-occupancy evaluation processes."
- Piia Markkanen, Doctoral Researcher, Oulu School of Architecture, University of Oulu
