Abstract

Workplaces are designed to foster a range of activities, such as focused work, collaboration, and recovery, which create dynamic needs in work environments. We applied a contextsensitive experience sampling method (ESM) to collect space-specific data on employees’ immediate experiences from individual workspaces to understand how they support employees’ activities. Needs-supplies fit is a person-environment fit type that has been associated with the physical work environments. The fit formation depends on employees’ activities, activity-related needs, and the surrounding work settings. Understanding the needssupplies fit at the workplace design level is important, as the fit formation increases employees’ workplace satisfaction. ESM is a repetitive inquiry method that permeates into employees’ daily life, and it can be conceptualised to contain the following key elements: 1) natural environment, 2) immediacy of experience and 3) representative sampling. This study was designed to obtain information on employees’ needs for interaction, privacy, and spatial atmosphere during individual or collaborative activities at assigned workstations, meeting rooms, and breakout area. Our dynamic signal-contingent study setup delivered the questionnaire to employees’ smartphones upon switching the location to collect the immediate experience of the situation. The study was conducted before and during an intervention study, during which organisations’ meeting rooms and a breakout area were refurbished. We qualitatively inspected the ESM parameters, employees’ activities, and their workspace experiences to interpret the ESM results. The questionnaire data revealed differences in privacy, interaction, and atmosphere needs and a high need for appropriate videoconference and withdrawal spaces. Using contextual research methods, such as ESM, promotes understanding of diverse workspaces in relation to activities. Our research draws attention to collaborative workspaces, the surroundings of videoconference meetings, spaces of recovery, and the needs related to their spatial atmospheres.