During the last five years the ratio of from home workers increased by 173%. These data come from the beginning of 2020 therefore do not include the development with COVID-19 pandemic – the actual numbers are going to be much after adding the changes done by pandemic by hundreds of percent’s.
Dell tried to make a research about the change towards new style of working. The biggest emphasis was on the effectivity of work and comparison to the situation before. The effectivity suffered the most during the switch as workers were getting used to new routines at their homes. The most interesting results lie in the relationship between productivity and usage of additional products to empower the workplace at home.
The method of research was rather simple. Group of users consisting of multiple age groups was given multiple tasks on their pc specifically designed to force them into using multiple commands, applications and keyboard commands. The tasks included rather simple computing operations such as editing photos, finding content on the internet and basic usage of word and excel.
Everyone knows that these tasks are exceedingly difficult and time consuming on a touchpad, so there is no surprise that by connecting mouse and keyboard the effectivity of work has been increased by 25,8%. More interesting results were shown after connecting external monitor to the test workplace.
Usage of an external monitor, which was bigger than the original by 10 inches than the original display, increased the productivity by additional 7 % to 32 % total (with keyboard and mouse). As the external monitor got bigger the overall productivity also increased. While using 27 inch monitor the overall productivity number peaked to 37,7 % and in the case of using two 24 inches monitors at once the number broke 40 % productivity checkpoint.
The productivity is increased by bigger and more comfortable workspace. The possibility to set up your workspace in a way which suits you the best is on the same level of importance as using additional peripherals (monitors, keyboards, docks…). The suitable desk and chair improve ergonomics and good feeling about the workspace and improve health and satisfaction of the user. The workplace is the same as your own flat. If you can set it up according to your preference, it is a joy to spend time in it.