No longer do you see rows of generic black monitors, keyboards, and beige mouse pads stacked up side by side. Home and work spaces have changed dramatically in a very short space of time and are today far from being ordinary and purely functional.
The modern offices of millions of workers around the world are vastly different to how they looked 5 years ago. Gone are the days of rows of identical workstations, each with their own identical black monitor, standard keyboard and generic beige mousepad on the desk. Instead, every worker now sets up their computer on a vastly different desk space. Whether they are remote workers holding video conferences from their home offices, a Content creator working from a gaming room that is also their personal brand space, each desk space is unique and intentional.
The shift from function to expression
When millions of people started to work from home in 2020 they found out that the space where they spent most time at work affected how they felt about their job in a huge way. A drab, uninspiring space with a corporate desk in the middle of a living room is soulless and makes one feel that they are just going through the motions of a job.
A major influence for the increase in usage of personalized items for the workspace has been the gaming culture. Gaming has long been a pastime of individuals looking to express themselves in more ways than just playing games, and in the work spaces set up by gamers to play games on, the influence of personalization is clear to see. The setup of a gamers personal space of work can often be extended to include elements such as recording of gameplay, live streaming of self playing and others, as well as the use of personal branding to market themselves to other gamers and companies alike. The individual’s gaming setup can be made up of various pieces of gaming equipment, including their gaming PC, a high quality gaming mouse, gaming keyboard, a high specification headset and a specialist gaming chair, which can all be customized with a wide array of different colors, designs, logos and more to create a gaming ‘battlestation’ that reflects the individuality of the gamer. Items in the background of images of gamers’ setups, such as walls, can also be customized with designs and prints to add to the individuality of the gamers workspace.
Why personalization matters more than ever
In order to feel fulfilled by the work you are doing, you need to feel that you are in control and that you “own” the place where you work. This is why customizing your workspace in such a significant way has such a profound impact on the work you do.
A content creator’s workspace is under a lot of pressure. It is often visible in their videos, live streams and posts on social media. This is why a lot of attention is put into creating a professional workspace for content creators. A workspace that looks unprofessional or unfinished can give the impression that the content creator is not paying enough attention to the details of his or her work.
This new norm of personal workspaces has created a brand new platform for self-expression that is increasingly being shared online through platforms such as Instagram and Flickr. People from around the world are creating their ideal ‘battlestations’ – whether this is a more of a minimalist space with just a monitor and keyboard, or a more maximalist setup that could incorporate several monitors and incorporate lots of RGB lighting. Another way that people are choosing to personalize their gaming setups is by giving them a more vintage-inspired look to really differ from other gaming setups that incorporate more modern technology into the workspace.
The economics of customization
More and more small manufacturers are entering the market for personal workspace accessories that can be produced in large quantities. This means that items that previously required expensive custom fabrication can be purchased and delivered within days.
Even the smallest item, for example a mousepad, can be easily customized with a printed photo, logo or design and thus in an instant turned into a customized product for a user’s typical workspace, allowing for the personal interests and aesthetics of a user to shine through in even the most mundane of settings.
Of course, when more and more people start to design their workspace to their individual style and interests, their colleagues will soon start to feel pressure to create a workspace that is in some way distinctive from the bland and boring default office space.
The practical benefits behind the trend
While many individuals customize their computer workspaces in order to personalize their space in terms of style and in terms of content, there are also many individuals who find value in customized workspaces from a functional standpoint. That is to say, many individuals find that the custom computer accessories available for individualized customization allow for problems to be addressed in a manner that generic products fail to address. For example, while a generic mousepad is typically mass produced and distributed to consumers around the world in boxes and stacks, custom printed mousepads are printed with specific designs and then shipped directly to the consumers who purchased the items. These customized items are able to take into account a wide range of factors in terms of individualized customization and, in the case of items such as mousepads, can be designed in order to take into account the specific ergonomic needs of an individual. The mousepad could, for example, be designed in order to provide the perfect amount of support for an individual’s hands when typing on a computer keyboard. Items such as keyboard stands and monitor arms can also be customized in this way in order to take into account the specific dimensions of an individual’s workspace as well as the unique physical dimensions of the individual who will be using the items
Gaming setups can greatly benefit from customized gaming equipment. For professional gamers, they can fine-tune their gaming setup to play perfectly for long gaming sessions. For example, a pro gamer can create a custom gaming setup that is perfectly set up for a specific game, playing style, how they hold their hands on the equipment, and even their reaction time.
In addition to personalizing their workspaces, custom-designed workspace accessories can also provide office workers with performance gains. This is especially true for items such as mouse pads, which come in a variety of different sizes. There is nothing worse than a sore wrist or tired hand due to an ill-fitting mouse pad. Instead, custom-designed workspace accessories can help to ensure that each worker has the correct sized mouse pad for their specific needs. In addition, there are also wrist rests that are available in a variety of different shapes and sizes to ensure that they fit comfortably around each worker’s wrist. This can be especially important for those who spend
What drives the continued growth
Remote workers want intentional work spaces and content creators want unique backgrounds for their personal brands.
There are more and more customized office supplies available to buy online. They are even delivered to the customer within a few days. Small businesses now are able to mass produce customized products that were previously only available from expensive custom fabricators. High-quality custom keycaps, custom monitor stands, printed desk mats and many more things can now be ordered from the internet at the same price as regular office supplies.
Whether your workspace is visible in your Zoom calls or displayed off in the background of your Instagram posts, others will judge you in terms of your professionalism and attention to detail.
The future of workspace personalization
Our concept of work and our personal identity has changed irreversibly. Work is not just a task any more, it also includes the space where we perform our work. This new market will continue to grow and more sophisticated options to personalize our workspace will appear. The challenge for manufacturers of customized accessories for the workspace will be to balance the need for self expression of its user with the demands of a professional working environment.
The generic office is a thing of the past. Millions of workers are transitioning to remote work arrangements and require a workspace that reflects their individuality. The market for work space personalization is maturing and becoming more sophisticated. People not only want to express themselves through work space personalization, they also require it to be professional enough to conduct work in.
