Sharing lighting control in an open office: doing one's best to avoid conflict

Personal control for office workstation specific lighting was studied already for several decades, whereas this form of lighting control for multi-user offices is a relatively young field of research. The proliferation of open offices in the last decade makes it vital to understand the benefits and drawbacks of personal lighting control in multi-user spaces. This paper presents the results of two field experiments that explored the experience of conflict and the social dynamics among open office users to whom personal lighting control was offered. The study data revealed that in multi-user spaces, individuals are self-conscious of the presence of others and deploy different strategies in order to avoid conflict due to control of lighting. The paper discusses the implications these findings have for the design of multi-user lighting control. This study shows that individuals feel the nuisance of having no control over lighting stronger after they lose it, than the satisfaction gains felt when they initially got control, known as a loss aversion bias. This has implications for promoting beneficial effects of personal lighting controls in open office environments.