Here’s How to Humanize Working From Home, According to Experts

A dedicated office is now an essential component of many of our homes, but that doesn’t mean you have to make it look like the one you used to commute to. For design inspiration, we spoke with a few people at the forefront of home workplace R&D. See their advice below, and also check out our picks for the best new work-from-home products.

Ramprakash Ravichandran: The Google Interaction Designer working to humanize connectivity 

For some, a glitchy video meeting is a call gone wrong. For Ramprakash Ravichandran, a senior interaction designer at Google, it’s a call to action.  

Ravichandran and his team at the company's Next Billion Users project are researching ways to make the Internet more accessible, reliable, and affordable to millions across the globe. It’s an issue that hits close to home, too, as the pandemic and a shift to remote learning have shed light on America’s stark digital divide.

As he wrote in a recent essay, "Connect, No Matter the Speed," Ravichandran says developers in the future should prioritize user experience, regardless of connectivity. "We’re constantly asking: How do we design products that work well off-line? How do we provide value to users even if they can’t afford the fastest Internet plan?" he says.

The solution is putting empathy first. Even when a page crashes or a session times out, Ravichandran argues, it’s essential that developers create an off-line experience that both informs and delights. Instead of an infinitely spinning ball? Implement a progressive loading bar. In lieu of half-loaded images? Try a placeholder. Slow loading time? Serve the user information about how the app works in the meantime.

Think of it as a slow Internet movement: building a user experience for the assumption that something will go wrong, fostering empowerment rather than frustration. 

Magnus Wästberg—The bright mind behind human-centered lighting 

One thing most workers don’t miss about the office? Oppressive overhead fluorescents. But now, charged with setting up our own workspaces at home, we’re faced with a question—what does a good light actually look like?

Magnus Wästberg, founder and CEO of the eponymous Swedish lighting maker Wästberg, has been trying to uncover that answer for the last two decades. "For a million years, our only light was fire," he explains, paraphrasing his 2008 manifesto, Lamps for Neanderthal Man. "We’ve only had electrical light for 100 years, and now that light is electronic, we’re one step further away from how we evolved."

Today, Wästberg and his team are seeking out what they term "modern-day fires," lighting that not only provides adequate illumination, but also makes us feel happy and comfortable. To create a deskside campfire at home, Wästberg has outlined what is essentially an interior designer’s take on three-point lighting, a trifecta of direct light (such as an overhead pendant or task light), indirect light (like a plug-in floor lamp), and, finally, "atmospheric accents," smaller lights tucked into nearby nooks.

With the help of his elegant lighting solutions, you can transform your home office into a place you actually want to be, a space that doesn’t just shine, but brings you warmth, comfort, and style. After all, says Wästberg, "Good lighting is for you, not on you."

Jason C. Mayden—The nimble change-maker pushing consumer tech out of its comfort zone