Mapping the Workspace of a Globally Distributed “Agile” Team

Abstract

Collaborative activities have become an important consideration of contemporary workspace design, and this is especially in software development companies as teams work to innovate products and customer experiences. Meanwhile, globally distributed virtual teams have also grown more common, but collaborating across time zones presents a new set of challenge to navigate. To address some of these challenges, many organizations are also implementing more agile information design strategies. Architecting user-friendly work environments that support collaboration for globally distributed virtual teams practicing agile methodologies is not a simple task, however. This article reports results from a workplace study of a distributed team of information experience designers at a multinational software company as the team worked through reorganization of their internal processes and workflow. The case study illustrates which environmental design features caused disruptions and contradictions for the team as they participated in project work.