Designer(s):

An interactive smart room partition for coworking spaces that helps in non-intrusive communications with subtle cues of light and movement signalling presence, availability, and intent of interaction. It supports microbreak, manual controls, and mutual interaction through gesture like proximity-triggering movement and color-coded signals.

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This project explores how interactive furniture can facilitate subtle social interaction, presence awareness, and personal autonomy in coworking spaces. Through a user-centered approach, the concept ‘Co-Net’ was developed in three levels: the explorations, the final design and the ideal design. ‘Co-Net’ is an interactive room divider that uses proximity, button triggering movement and light cues to express availability, intent for interaction, also signalling microbreaks, and subtly connecting users. The design evolved through multiple iterations, starting with low- and mid-fidelity prototypes and leading to the full-scale interactive room partition ‘Co-Net’, which was tested in lab-based role-play sessions and semi-structured interviews. Findings showed that subtle cues helped signal intentions without interrupting workfocus, while users appreciated having control over their engagement. Expert evaluations confirmed its potential as a service-oriented addition to Ahrend’s portfolio. The project highlights how adaptable, non-intrusive design can support wellbeing and interaction in shared work environments