ImaginativePRO Blog

KNOLL'S 'ACTIVITY SPACES,' FURNITURE FOR TODAY'S MOBILE WORKFORCE WHO ARE NOT TIED TO A DESKTOP, BUT RELY ON MOBILE DEVICES

ANTENNA’S NEW LINE FOR KNOLL IS PURPOSE-BUILT FOR THE SPONTANEOUS WORK ENCOUNTERS THAT OFTEN SPARK INNOVATION.

By now, the concept of “spontaneous collaboration space” in the office is starting to fray around the edges. Despite the proliferation of zany themed meeting rooms, sofas, and bars in the workplace, there’s still no recipe for engineering the random encounters and unplanned work that can lead to breakthroughs. Sigi Moeslinger, one half of Antenna Design, says.

“Architects will often specify residential furniture like coffee tables and couches.  But spontaneous work still requires work space.”

Moeslinger and her partner, Masamichi Udagawa, have designed Bloomberg terminals,  MTA New York City subway cars, and JetBlue check-in kiosks. But for their latest project, the Japanese-Austrian duo bypassed screens and addressed the people who use them.

Activity Spaces, a line of furniture Antenna designed for Knoll, is designed for mobile employees who are no longer tied to a desktop, relying on tablets or phones instead.   Udagawa says.

“Many people don’t have a main computer anymore.  But generally, we still need a place to sit and put something.”

A desk or chair hybrid named Toboggan, designed for use with tablets or laptops, is the centerpiece of a new line of Knoll furniture by Antenna Design (Click Image To Enlarge)

The steel tube and bent plywood of the Toboggan looks like a mutated public school desk--it supports a variety of sitting positions plus a place to rest a tablet or notebook (Click Image To Enlarge)

Activity Spaces is built around a desk/chair hybrid named Toboggan. The steel tube and bent plywood contraption looks like a mutated public school desk--its legs wrap in a C from the desk to the ground up to the integrated stool, creating a lightweight structure that supports a variety of sitting positions plus a place to rest a tablet or notebook.  Moeslinger says. 

“It’s a kind of strange object, and we weren’t sure how people would interact with it.”

But an introduction at NeoCon last year left Antenna pleasantly surprised:  

“People would just intuitively take breaks to check their phones.”

She remembers.

“They got into it right away.”

Knoll Activity Spaces include a number of casual workspaces, including semi-secluded seating for open office plans. This image shows other pieces from the collection, which weren’t designed by Antenna (Click Image To Enlarge)

To assuage the constant lack of power outlets, they designed a stainless steel power block that supplies a charge (Click Image To Enlarge)

The lightweight Toboggans are designed to be moved and rearranged throughout the office, which introduced another problem: the inevitable lack of power outlets. So they designed a stainless steel pole dotted with outlets that supplies a charge wherever it’s wheeled.

Here's, the charging pole (Click Image To Enlarge)

There are also small tables and objects that provide a charge for laptops and tablets (Click Imaage To Enlarge)

Other pieces, like a rolling whiteboard and small tables that also provide a charge for laptops, also promote mobility within the office. The idea is to create a spectrum of spaces within the office, rather than the conventional binary of being at your desk or in a meeting.

A whiteboard on wheels is another lo-fi accessory (Click Image To Enlarge)

A view of the toboggan chair with the power pole

In an unexpected way, Antenna’s expertise in interaction design is what makes these plywood-and-plastic objects so intelligent. It’s not so much about the screen, but rather how and where it’s being used.  Udagawa told me.

“We approach furniture as an interface.  It can modify behavior, and help people make the transition into more open space.”

COMMENTARY:    Office workers no longer lay claim to just a small square of real estate but share ownership of all the spaces that support the multiple tasks they are called upon to perform. In the emerging workplace the whole office is my office. 

Today’s office contains individual assigned workspaces that Knoll calls primary workspaces, and non-assigned spaces that are held in common and occupied with others as needed, called activity spaces. Primary and activity spaces may be individual or shared, open or enclosed, depending on their intended function. Both primary and activity spaces require broad connectivity with ready access to power and data, and wifi capability.

Primary spaces, which are typically assigned open plan workstations or private offices, are
“home base” spaces.  Often configured to support heads-down, focus work as well as short interactions with others, primary spaces may be designed explicitly to support shared work as in a two-person workstation with a table between; or to support team work, as in a large table configuration.

Activity spaces are “go to” spaces, that is, destinations for temporary group and individual work. They include:

• Refuge for focus work among one or two.  dddddddddddddddddddd  
  
• Enclave for small group interactions among three or four   
  
• Team Meeting for teams of five to eight dddddddddddddddddd
  
• Assembly spaces for conferences, lectures or training
  
• Community areas for informal socializing, eating or collaborating.
  

While layout, furnishings and technology will differ depending on the intended function of a given space, the sizes of activity spaces by type are relatively constant. Whether spaces support individual work, collaboration or more structured group activities, all must have qualities that make them places where people want to go.

Successful activity spaces attract, adapt and engage. They are appealing and comfortable, offer appropriate furnishings and technology, and provide multiple communication tools.  Activity spaces permit individuals and group members to shape their work experience by adjusting and reconfiguring elements in the space, and provide opportunities to express organizational culture.

Activity Spaces Defined (Click Image To Enlarge)

If you would like to learn more about Knoll's Activity Spaces line of communual and collaborative furniture designed for today's mobile workforce, you can download Knoll's Activity Spaces whitepaper by clicking HERE.

Courtesy of an article dated April 1, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design 

MARK ZUCKERBERG MARRIES GIRLFRIEND PRISCILLA CHAN IN A SECRET WEDDING, 100 CLOSE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES ATTENDED

Mark Zuckerberg married long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan on Saturday, May 19, 2012 in a secret wedding in the backyard of their Palo Alto, California home.  (Click Image To Enlarge)

The Facebook billionaire, 28, topped off a remarkable week with a surprise wedding Saturday to college sweetheart Priscilla Chan, 27. A hoodie was good enough for his pre-IPO meeting with Wall Street investors, but Zuckerberg — either by his own choice or at the insistence of his fiancee — donned a big-boy suit, white shirt and tie to mark the occasion. Yes, some things are sacred.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan wedding picture (Click Image To Enlarge)

The wedding announcement was classic Facebook: Zuckerberg simply updated his profile to: “Married Priscilla Chan.” The news had almost 850,000 “likes” Sunday evening.

Mark Zuckerberg announces marriage to Priscilla Chan on his Facebook page (Click Image To Enlarge)

The couple pulled off the stealth nuptials by inviting 100 guests to what they thought was a surprise party for Chan, who graduated from medical school at the University of California at San Francisco last Monday — which also happened to be Zuckerberg’s birthday.   He posted during the commencement ceremony.

“I’m so proud of you, Dr. Chan :).” 

But the surprise was on their friends: The wedding had been in the works for months, a friend of the couple told the Associated Press; the fact that it came one day after Facebook debuted on the stock market was entirely coincidental.

Details quickly leaked out, although none of the guests were willing to be quoted on the record.

• The ceremony took place in the backyard of the newlyweds’ Palo Alto, Calif., home.
• The bride wore a white dress with a lace overlay and received a simple ruby wedding ring designed by Zuckerberg.
• Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong sang, according to the Mercury News. 
• Dinner came from the couple’s two favorite restaurants, Palo Alto Sol and Fuki Sushi. For dessert, there were Burdick Chocolate “mice” (tiny chocolate truffles in the shape of mice), which they ate during their first date. (Awww.)

What’s most impressive (aside from Zuck’s suit) was that they managed to keep it under wraps. Celebrity weddings usually leak out from a guest or vendor, which makes a secret A-list ceremony like John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s so rare. Chan and Zuckerberg used the classic bait-and-switch tactic employed by Julia Roberts for her Fourth of July marriage to Danny Moder in 2004: Invite all your friends for a party, then spring the wedding on them. All your loved ones in attendance, but no advance gossip.

The Chinese-American bride grew up in the Boston suburbs and began dating Zuckerberg when they were students at Harvard. Zuckerberg, scheduled to graduate in 2006, dropped out to run his company; Chan received her undergraduate degree in 2007. She spent a couple years teaching science before entering medical school, where she specialized in pediatrics — and inspired Zuckerberg to promote organ donation on Facebook. (Read more about Priscilla Chan, tech’s newest first lady.)

Mark Zuckerberg poses with Priscilla Chan after her Harvard graduation ceremony (Click Image To Enlarge)

Although the two have been dating for nine years, Chan was famously not depicted in the 2010 film “The Social Network,” (click to see my blog post) the cinematic account of Facebook’s creation. The movie opens with Zuckerberg’s getting dumped by a girlfriend, which allegedly sparked what would become his social media explosion. The movie included a few random groupies, but no serious love interest — a better dramatic narrative than the real story: Zuckerberg and Chan have been in a serious relationship throughout his spectacular rise to worldwide fame and fortune. (Another reason, ladies, to give those college geeks a shot.)

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan pose in the kitchen of their home in Palo Alto after preparing Thanksgiving Day dinner for a small group of friends  (Click Image To Enlarge)

Public reaction to the marriage ranged from hilariously obvious to genuinely funny and even kind of mean.

Steve Case tweeted.  

“Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg weds on day after IPO #aweektoremember.”

Daily Show head writer Tim Carvel tweeted:

“Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg! As a gift, I got you the names of all my friends, a list of my favorite movies, and some photos of me!”

And there were plenty of folks who wondered whether the newlyweds had a prenuptial agreement. Reps for Zuckerberg didn’t respond to requests for comment, but anyone worth $19 billion who gets married in a community property state would be an idiot not to have a prenup. Zuckerberg, love him or hate him, is no idiot.

Donald Trump, unaware of the impending wedding, speculated about Zuckerberg’s future on CNBC on Tuesday:

“They get married, and then for some reason over the next couple of years they get divorced and then she sues him for $10 billion and she hits the jackpot.”

Trump thinks the new Mrs. Zuckerberg should get much less:

“I’m notoriously cheap with these things, I think if she made $1 million, that would be very good.”

But it was old-fashioned love, not money, that Zuckerberg’s sisters cared about: Arielle wrote,

“Now I’m the only unmarried Zuckerberg. . .”;

Randi posted,

“This week = :) :) :) :)”

COMMENTARY:   I have been poking fun at Mark Zuckerberg and his girlfriend Priscilla Chan since I found out that he had a girlfriend.   I won't poke fun on this very special occasion. Congratulations to Mark and Priscilla, and may you have a very happy marriage that lasts foreverrrr.  

Courtesy of an article dated May 26, 2012 appearing in the Washington Post

FACEBOOK LAUNCHES NEW 'SUGGESTED EVENTS' FEATURE TO HELP YOU DISCOVER EVENTS NEAR WHERE YOU LIVE

 

Feeling housebound by Facebook addiction? Facebook just released “Suggested Events,” which uses your own check-in information to point out events you might want to go to in the real world.

Suggested Events replaces the old Friends Events menu choice that was there before. We’re not seeing this new Suggested Events feature on all our accounts — it might have something to do with whether you’ve checked in anywhere yet on Facebook, or it could be another Facebook slow rollout — but if you’re one of the lucky ones so far, here’s how to access it:

Go to your Facebook Home page, and on the left side, click on Events. As usual, different events that are coming up will display on the right side of your screen.

But if you look underneath Events, there’s a new menu choice called “Suggested Events.” Click on that, and you’ll see a list of suggested events for later this week, next week, and on into the following months.

Click Image To Enlarge

So Facebook will be using information it's gathered about you to suggest more places to go? This is the kind of feature that might be considered "creepy" by some users, but others will welcome the suggestions that might actually have something to do with places you've been -- or places you're interested in going.

Anything to get us out of the house and away from all the screens can't be bad in my book. Oh wait, will Suggested Events be available on the iOS and Android Facebook apps? We've contacted Facebook to find out, and will let you know. In the meantime, how do you like this new feature?

COMMENTARY:   

[Update: Facebook tells me it is testing the feature, though it has now been rolled out to the entire user base. A spokesperson also says suggestions can be based on the music you listen to through Open Graph apps, which can help improve recommendations for those who checkin via Foursquare or don't share their location at all.]

By promoting offline interaction, Suggested Events should quiet critics who say Facebook weakens real human relationships and leads people to sit at home.  It has huge potential to generate good will for Facebook and make the service seem even more indispensable.  If you go to a great show, have a fun night out with friends, or meet someone new at a suggested venue, your perception of Facebook’s value to your life will undoubtedly improve.

If you go to lots of concerts, and Facebook effectively knows this because you check in to the venues or the events themselves thanks to a mobile feature added last year (possibly to collect data for this).  Now, Suggested Events recommends me concerts taking place at my favorite venues. The music industry stands to gain a lot from the feature, since concerts are thrown frequently, and occur at Places people commonly check in to.

NOTE:   In order for event check-in to work, and you do not presently subscribe to a location-based check-in service like foursquare, you must be subscribed to Facebook Places, which is a location-based check-in service app for your iPhone, iPad and Android phones (not available for regular BlackBerry phones).  You need to have the Facebook Places app turned on, so that your mobile device knows your GPS location.  Once turned on, Facebook Places will list a list of events. If you want to know more about a specific event, you click the CHECK-IN button for that event (see below)

If you’re in college, Suggested Events might recommend parties at campus dorms, whereas professionals might get clued in to meetups or conferences at local convention halls they visit. The feature also alerts you to Events hosted by Pages you Like, which could encourage more venues, performers, or production companies to officially host the events they throw. One day the feature might be able to show events where a band I Like was mentioned in the description.

With third-party apps you enter your preferences or upload them via Facebook Connect, but then also have to remember to visit. Facebook’s new native event discovery feature makes finding fun things to do a seamless part of every day browsing. That means more outings, more moments, more memories. And you know where you can display the photos, checkins, and status updates about those memories? Timeline.

CAUTION:  Facebook users should be aware that Facebook is a front for the CIA and used extensively by the NSA, Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies like the FBI to investigate and track your activities.   You certainly don't want these agencies to know your physical whereabouts through your cell phone running their Facebook Places app.   As I write this, Facebook is being investigated by a Congressional committee on internet privacy for tracking you by your cell phone even when its not turned on.  Once these bastards know your whereabouts, including where you check-in, who your friends are, they can build a profile around your daily routine, can even predict what you are going to do next.  So, even though Facebook's Suggested Events seems like a wonderful new feature, it could be used against you in a court of law.   

Courtesy of an article dated December 22, 2011 appearing in Mashable