Exploring soundscaping options for the cognitive environment in an open-plan office

Abstract

A major source of noise complaints in open-plan offices has consistently been co-workers talking nearby or talking on the phone. Various masking sounds such as white noise and pink noise have been explored to reduce the intelligibility level of speech from adjacent co-workers in open-plan offices. Recently, nature soundscapes such as water, rainfall or birdsong have been introduced instead of conventional white or pink noises. Water sounds with limited acoustic variation have shown more effectiveness than nature sounds with high acoustic variation such as birdsong. This study examined four types of background sounds in a controlled lab environment that simulated a typical open-plan office in a large pharmaceutical company in the United Kingdom. The purpose was to understand cognitive performance, satisfaction and preference, and physiological responses among the four types of background sounds: no external acoustic noise, typical daily office noise, white noise and spring water sound. The study employed three methods: an assessment of cognitive performance to measure memory, distractibility and decision-making; a survey to understand subjective satisfaction and preference; and use of wearable devices to monitor physiological responses. Two different types of wearable devices were used: pulse oximeter and electrodermal activity sensor to compare physiological responses to the four types of sounds. This article discusses discrepancies found between participants’ satisfaction/preference and their cognitive performance under the four background sounds and potential future implications of masking sounds in open-plan offices.

Discovery of associative patterns between workplace sound level and physiological wellbeing using wearable devices and empirical Bayes modeling

“…Sources of sounds in o ces include other people's conversations, telephone-calls, and mechanical equipment. Favorable worker perception of a workplace is tightly coupled with ambient sound level exposure [26][27][28] . Consequently, sound level is an important workplace environmental factor that could impact employee health and wellbeing.…”

Open-plan office noise is stressful: multimodal stress detection in a simulated work environment

“…In addition, most studies investigating the effects of workplace of noise focus just on self-reports of noise annoyance and/or performance measures (e.g., Acun and Yilmazer, 2018; Haapakangas et al, 2014; Hodzic, Kubicek, Uhlig, and Korunka, 2021; Lee and Aletta, 2019). While there were also prior studies that reported physiological impacts of noise (Lee, Nelson, Flynn, & Jackman, 2020; Wellens & Smith, 2006), they are still limited in the range of measures employed. By using simulated office environment with objectively manipulated noise levels and a wide range of objective and subjective dependent variables, our study addresses a gap in the literature.…”

“…However, this study highlights the importance of understanding employee needs and preferences as well as task requirements in designing such workspaces. Organizations may wish to reconsider the extent to which open plan settings are deployed, as well as the use of acoustic treatments, sound masking technologies, reduced density and increased use of walls or partitions (Lee et al, 2020). Social interventions to limit extraneous noise, interruptions, and technological distractions may also be helpful.…”

Open-office noise and information processing

“…In recent years, organizations have adopted open-plan offices to enhance collaboration and performance in response to the complexity of modern work (Khazanchi et al, 2018). Openplan offices are frequently advocated by managers; however, the prevalence of open-office noise stands as one of the most commonly reported concerns among employees (Kim and de Dear, 2013;Lee et al, 2020). This has sparked increasing efforts among managerial and organizational psychologists to understand the impact of the physical work environment on various employee outcomes (McCoy, 2005;Elsbach and Pratt, 2007;Smith-Jackson and Klein, 2009;Davis et al, 2011;Jahncke et al, 2011;Ashkanasy et al, 2014;Appel-Meulenbroek et al, 2020;Ashkanasy, 2020, 2021;Morrison and Stahlmann-Brown, 2020;Otterbring et al, 2020;Sander et al, 2021;Ayoko et al, 2023).…”

“…, 2018). Open-plan offices are frequently advocated by managers; however, the prevalence of open-office noise stands as one of the most commonly reported concerns among employees (Kim and de Dear, 2013; Lee et al. , 2020).…”