Still at the office: designing for physical movement-inclusion during office work

In this paper we describe, analyse and reflect on experiences and knowledge generated from designing for physical movement integration during office work. Work in traditional modern office settings provides few physically demanding tasks. Evidence from research indicates that sedentary life styles are increasing our risk for developing a host of diseases and other medical complications. Together with students and through user-centered design, concepts for inviting the body “back to work” were developed. The concepts inspired the design of three physical movement probes that were explored by office workers. The participants were encouraging to the attempt to transform the sedentary nature of office work into more physically sustainable work. They described their work environments as filled with stuff for enhancing physical activity but these were seldom used. Integrating physical movements in the design of future office work tools may have considerable positive effects on public health. ACM Classification