October 6, 2011 by Jennifer Kovacs Silvis, Managing Editor

In 2008, Spectrum Health Systems of Grand Rapids, Michigan, noted an interesting finding in its staff satisfaction surveys: Employees were generally unhappy with the quality of their break rooms. To respond to this piece of information, the health system initiated what it called an “Extreme Break Room Makeover” competition, encouraging departments to nominate their respite areas for a facelift. Out of 60 entries, three were selected.

Spectrum Health wanted the renovation process to be grounded in a human-centered design research approach and asked Steelcase’s WorkSpace Futures research group to guide them through the process. Aside from designing a better, human-centered break room, the organizations wanted to measure the impact of the project on the users. In order to conduct the study, Caroline Kelly, a senior design researcher for Nurture by Steelcase, Karen VanderLaan, senior nurse researcher for Spectrum Health, and Karyl King, who at the time worked for Spectrum Health’s Center for Exceptional Experiences, joined as co-investigators, to design and execute a study on the makeovers.

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