News

Most workplaces don’t need more interaction. They need more pause.

Everyone agrees informal interaction matters.

That’s not the problem.

The problem is we’ve convinced ourselves that if we add enough collaboration space, open things up, and sprinkle in a few social areas… interaction will happen.

It doesn’t.
Or at least, not in the way we think.

Instead, most workplaces actually have plenty of passing interaction; what’s missing is the pause.

Walk through almost any office, and you’ll see it.

People pass each other constantly.
They nod, maybe exchange a few words… and keep moving.

That’s the default.

Because stopping, even for 30 seconds, has a cost:

You might be in the way.
There’s nowhere to land.
It feels like you’re not really meant to be there.

So,people defer it.

“I’ll catch them later.”

They usually don’t.

We’ve been designing movement, not interaction.

A lot of workplace design is still optimised for flow:

clean circulation
efficient layouts
clear zoning

Which is fine until you realise:

The more efficient the movement, the less likely anyone is to pause.

And no pause = no real interaction.

Comfort is doing more work than we give it credit for

There’s decent evidence and plenty of everyday observation that people linger longer in spaces that feel:

physically comfortable
slightly sheltered
less exposed

And when people linger, conversations happen.

Not scheduled ones. Not workshops.
Just quick exchanges that wouldn’t justify a meeting, but still move things forward.

What’s interesting is how little it takes.

Not a full lounge. Not a destination space.
Sometimes just a chair in the right place… or something to lean on… is enough to tip the decision from keep walking to pause for a second.

But too much comfort can have the opposite effect.

This is where it gets a bit counterintuitive.

If every informal space is highly comfortable, soft, and enclosed, something else happens:

People settle.
They stay.
They occupy.

And those spaces stop being part of the workplace’s flow; they become destinations.

Which means fewer passing interactions, not more.

We’re also over-designing “interaction.”

There’s been a push to make informal communication more intentional:

programmed moments
designed social zones
digital nudges

Some of it works. A lot of it feels… forced.

Because the most valuable interaction is:

slightly inefficient
unplanned
easy to walk away from

As soon as it feels structured, people treat it differently.

A better question

Instead of:

“Where should people collaborate?”

It’s probably more useful to ask:

Where would someone naturally stop without thinking too hard about it?

Not sit for an hour.
Just… stop.

That’s usually where things start.

The bit that matters

We don’t need more interaction in workplaces. There’s already plenty of noise.

What’s missing is:

the right people crossing paths
in places where it’s easy to pause
and just comfortable enough to say something that wasn’t planned

Get that right, and interaction tends to take care of itself.

Miss it, and no amount of collaboration space will fix it.