A Practical Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation and Researching Building User Experience

A Practical Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation offers high-level pragmatic guidance and case study examples on how to conduct a Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) to determine whether a workplace project is successful and uncover the lessons learned for future projects. For designers, POEs provide essential predesign feedback, informing the design brief to determine occupant requirements and help focus expenditure. For those in charge of a building or buildings, POE offers proactive building management and can also be used as part of the change management programme in larger projects, informing the occupants of progress. The practical guidance offered in this book will help the workplace industry understand if a design meets the requirements of an occupier and measure the success of and value offered by a workplace project.

This book will be of interest to professionals in the workplace industry responsible for delivering and evaluating capital projects as well as those studying interior design, architecture, surveying, facilities management and building services engineering.

Dr Nigel Oseland is an environmental psychologist, workplace strategist, change manager, researcher, international speaker, lecturer and published author with 11 years of research and 25 years of consulting experience. In his consulting business, he draws on his psychology background and his own research to advise occupiers on how to redefine their workstyles and rethink their workplace to create working environments that enhance individual and organisational performance and deliver maximum value. Nigel’s design projects are evidence-based and he conducts a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) as part of each project.

Since 1996 Nigel has conducted over 100 POEs using his own and other organisations’ methodologies. He authored the British Council for Offices Guide to Post-Occupancy Evaluation in 2007. Nigel facilitates regular training workshops on POE, attracting participants from around Europe, some employed in the corporate world and others working in the public sector or for higher education institutions. He also lectures on POE at The Bartlett, University College London, and has presented on POE at conferences around the globe. Nigel also created the original Wikipedia entry on POE.

Nigel has published over 150 academic articles and has contributed to chapters in numerous books including Architecture Beyond Criticism: Expert Judgment and Performance Evaluation (Preiser at al, 2015) and Building Performance Evaluation: From Delivery Process to Life Cycle Phases (Preiser, Hardy and Schramm, 2018). Nigel’s most recent book Beyond the Workplace Zoo: Humanising the Office (Oseland, 2022) emphasises the importance of POE.

Nigel spends his spare time regularly gravel biking in the nearby Chilterns, and occasionally downhill mountain biking in Wales and the Alps. He is a member of his local Toastmasters International speakers club where he hones his presentation skills. Nigel is a budding beer sommelier and organises the annual local beer festival and other beer-related events. Nigel also presents a weekly show on his local community radio station.