Espace, Travail et numérique. Le cas du travail en flex office

Abstract

This article aims to address the issue of space in work organization in the context of the development of digital technology and space. We offer an insight into flex offices as a new model of workspace. This paper is anchored in the field of the ergonomics with a focus on activity. We describe the link between work activity and space. The paper is organized into six parts. The first part deals with the specificity of space in work organizations. The relation to subordination is singular and linked to work in companies. It is possible to distinguish between spaces dedicated to work and other types of space. Working space is different from housing or urban space. The second part proposes a theoretical approach to space as a framework to simultaneously reach work activity and its space. The space designed by the organization or designers (the space of the task) differs from the space modeled by the work activity (the space of the activity). The third part examines the evolution of digital technology in the context of spaces dedicated to work. A link is observed between the development of digital technology and the evolution of space in companies. The fourth part presents the case study and the methods used to provide feedback after installation in a flex office. The fifth part develops the main results of the analysis by focusing on the characteristics of the spaces in the flex office model. The first two characteristics focus on how space, designed by designers, participates in the task. The last two characteristics show how the work activity unfolds and takes place in new spaces. The sixth and final part opens up perspectives from a work perspective.

Keywords

• work
• design
• flex office
• digital technologies and activity’s space