Laboratory for Designing Work Environments

The Laboratory for the Design of Work Environments was founded in 2004 within the Department of Communication Sciences. It then becomes a structural element of the Department of Social, Political and Cognitive Sciences since its establishment. The Laboratory aims at supporting the activities and applicative aspects of research relating to the design and definition of operating environments. Particular attention is paid to the influence that the use of technologies has on the contents of work and daily activities, on the development of new communities of practice, on dysfunctional phenomena such as work-related stress, on the ethical aspects of organizations.

General objectives

- To promote, from an interdisciplinary point of view, theoretical-applicative research on designing environments for communication in the work setting and in the contexts of daily life;

- To develop theoretical and practical tools for the analysis of less explored operational contexts in the area of interest of psychological analysis (i.e. the Academic context);

- To foster an increasingly closer link between research and teaching, with special attention to the orientation of near-graduates;

- To provide students with the opportunity to practise their skills and do internships within the University.

The laboratory’s activities focus mainly on:
- The analysis of human activity in organisations aimed at the production of goods and services;
- The study of principles for the design of tools for communication and education;
- Methodologies for the evaluation of the interaction with technological artefacts;
- The study of the cognitive and emotional aspects of behaviour in organisational contexts;
- The study of the relationship between emotion and cognition in learning;
- The analysis of issues in real and virtual organizations, such as stress and cyberbullying;
- The analysis of the relationships between stress, human relationships and ethics in organizational settings;
- The evaluation of the moral aspects in Human Robot Interaction, HRI.

Research is conducted using methodologies such as ethnographic observation, interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, scenario-based design, design thinking, laboratory experiments.

Recent and current research activity:

Studies in the field of health and  communication

- Rare illnesses and communication. Cognitive and emotional aspects of communication on the websites of Associations of patients with rare illnesses.
- Development and research on innovative methodologies in continuing education in medicine.
- Evaluation of usability levels and performance of complex technologies in healthcare such as Computerized Axial Tomography (Studies conducted in collaboration with the emergency room of the Santa Maria alle Scotte Polyclinic in Siena).

Studies in the educational/training field

- E-learning and traditional learning environments: the relationship between emotion and cognition. (Studies conducted in collaboration with the Language Center of the University of Siena).
- Design and implementation of teaching and learning methodologies that use the silent reading of images of wordless picture books in order to improve the affective and relational skills and the development of narrative thinking of school-age children (Project "The silent book. Narration  and self-narration: tell a story through images"). Partners of the project: School Insitute Mattioli of Siena; Società PromoCultura, Empoli (FI); DISPOC, University of Siena; with the collaboration of Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese (Polyclinic Hospital Santa Maria alle Scotte in Siena).

Studies on Academic contexts

- Evaluation of the relationship between stress and ethics in the Academic field (teachers, technicians, students).

Studies on interactive technologies

- Evaluation of the attribution of moral and cognitive skills to artificial collaborative systems.
- Evaluation of systems for mediated relations (systems for trading and e-commerce).

Explorative studies on sensory communication

- Observation of the behavioural response of people with cognitive, motor, sensory deficits when presented with stimuli that entail the use of different artistic expression: music, dance, theatre, painting. (Study conducted in collaboration with the departments of Child Neuropsychiatry and Neonatology of the Polyclinic Hospital Santa Maria alle Scotte in Siena).

Student support activities and internship

- Students’ support activities in setting up experiments or conducting surveys through tools such as questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, in order to write theses, papers or for internships.
- Support activities for high school students in school-work progrrammes, through participation in group work and activities related to research projects and studies conducted within the laboratory.

Structured staff who participate in the laboratory activities

• Oronzo Parlangeli (Scientific director)
• Enrica Marchigiani (Technical person in charge)
• Margherita Bracci
• Stefano Guidi
• Paola Palmitesta
• Massimiliano Tiberio