Step into your workplace and your senses come alive – even if you don’t always realise it. From the lighting levels to how loud your colleague is chatting on a video call, everything impacts on how you feel and behave in the workplace. 

Your perception is multisensory, meaning how you react to your workplace is based on multiple senses in play at once. Think of a chef creating an experience for their diners. Food isn’t just about the taste. It’s an experience to enjoy, with all five senses brought alive. The way the colours work on the plate. The contrasting textures of foods. The smells. The sounds of the restaurant. They all come together to create an experience. In the workplace, work isn’t just work. Employees want an experience where all five senses act in harmony. 

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How you experience your environment may differ from your colleagues. You may feel stimulated by bright colours, but a colleague may feel overwhelmed.

Balancing diverse needs and multisensory perceptions poses an interesting workplace design conundrum, where you must appeal to people’s conscious and unconscious perceptions and their diverse needs and preferences.

In this series, we’ll explore how to leverage the five human senses – sight, touch, sound,  smell and taste – to create healthier, happier and more productive workplaces. As we dive into each sense, you’ll discover practical pointers to rethink and redesign your office.

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How do the five senses impact on us?

Our five senses are what connect us to the world around us. And for that reason, they have a huge impact on our inner and outer lives. Here are some of the ways they do just that:

1) Psychological - Mood, emotion.

2) Physiological - Body chemistry, heart rate, breathing, brainwaves.

3) Cognitive - How well we think and work.

4) Behavioural - What we do.

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Start making sense of the workplace

As we journey through each of the five senses, and how they impact the workplace, you'll gain new insights and ideas about changes you can start making to improve the experience you offer to employees, clients and visitors.

You'll find links below to take you to each chapter of this journey:

Making Sense(s) of the Workplace: Sound

Making Sense(s) of the Workplace: Touch

Making Sense(s) of the Workplace: Taste

Making Sense(s) of the Workplace: Smell

Making Sense(s) of the Workplace: Sight

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Sensing a new solution

Our team is always happy to discuss how we can help enhance your workplace environment. You can get in touch with us here.

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