By Anya Low
In this blog we take a look into work-styles which are applicable and used in the Covid situation, where the physical work environment has been replaced by virtual working spaces. Adapting to a new working culture can be challenging, especially be sudden enforcement of the government during the COVID pandemic. This is where design comes into play, by looking into new ways on how people can adapt to new ways of living and working with a very different approach in home-office. There are many challenges, which people are confronted with while doing home office, such as less utilities to fulfil certain work-tasks, less of a work environment where one can focus which may include noise disturbance, a too cozy setting etc., disrupted communication flow, when comparing to a shared office space, where meetings can occur and direct contact is present. This is where Miro, a platform used for visual collaboration, comes to play. Miro allows actors to collaborate virtually by clustering, writing categorising on a digital whiteboard that can be accessed through an device with a screen and internet connection. Miro is now widely used from big companies, to smaller groups of people and since the platform allows free service, to a certain extent, it can also be used by students and other stakeholders, who work on a budget. Within the current conditions, its use is considered to be an affective alternative to visually collaborate. Miro is a useful tool, which can be utilised in universities amongst students, who conduct virtual team work, but also for teachers and workshops and a tool to teach and involve students in participatory design. Although Miro is accessible for all who have the necessary devices and internet, and it is a great alternative, it’s use is not enough to satisfy all possible stakeholders. In many cases, it may not be user friendly to elderly groups, nor may it be user friendly for all devices. There is a lot to improve in terms of usability and accessibility, since the whole world is not using Miro yet. The next steps for Miro, and the next challenge for all virtual collaboration platforms, should be to integrate more people into it’s usability and make it more accessible for all potential users around each geographical area.