Who is the workplace designer? Towards a collaborative mode of action

Workplace design has been approached as an entire process and activity which leads to the birth of the workplace. The deficiencies of current design practices have been identified: technological orientation of the designers, lack of work-oriented objectives, poor communication and feedback, and improper use of available information and methods. Three projects have been carried out in the assembly industry in order to investigate and develop design practices. Together with the personnel of the enterprises, the new mode of action has been established. The contribution of different occupational groups has been integrated to the entire design process, the knowledge and information about designing has been extended, and collaborative ways of designing have been developed. Computer-based tool packages have been compiled for supporting designing and design projects, and also for carrying out similar developments in other enterprises. The tools are based mainly on word processors in order to be easy-to-use and modifiable to local needs. The new developments were experienced as useful, feasible and effective in the design projects, but the project leadership was usually not sufficient to take care of them, and informal support and guidance was needed.