Workspace Tour: 2020

One year ago I posted The Distributed Office, an article covering how We Are Sweet is able to operate a successful technology company with a team distributed across the UK. Little did I know that the world would be flipped upside down just a few months later, forcing traditional office-based staff to work from home across the globe.

I had also written a follow-up exploring my workspace, explaining how and why I have my desk set up in the way I do. When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, many professionals realised they wouldn’t be returning to their usual office any time soon. This article certainly helped a few people to design their own working environments to focus on productivity. 

Oh 2020

What a year it's been so far. Big changes, incredible challenges but despite it all, continued growth and further refinement for the We Are Sweet team. My workstation has changed over time, but this year saw some rather significant upgrades.

As with most systems, there’s usually room for improvement and my workspace is also a continuous evolution. I’ve kept the fundamental approach of my office the same; Easy access to the essential tools I use regularly and no clutter. However, I’ve also made numerous updates to my space for 2020 to support the additional time I spend in this very spot.

I am incredibly fortunate that COVID hasn’t affected me personally or our business to the same devastating effect that it has for many others. The greatest change is, of course, not going out! Meetings used to get me out and away from my desk but 2020 has seen me sitting in front of the screen for far longer. Given that I’ll be spending increased time here for the foreseeable future, I thought it made sense to get comfortable.

Well Seated

I posted recently about the entire experience of researching, receiving, constructing and living with my new chair in Are You Sitting Comfortably. This article focuses on the User Experience of being a SecretLab customer rather than productivity and reasons to upgrade your seat.

Firstly, you need to identify whether your chair is built for purpose. One of the common mistakes I’ve seen as people convert to work-from-home is to set up a very temporary space that usually includes a dining chair or stool that was never built to be used for extensive periods. Even if you do have an office chair already, did you originally buy it with a view of spending short sessions sat in it occasionally? Ask yourself if you are actually comfortable. If not, it might be time to don your facemask, sanitise those hands, and head to a store to try out some more appropriate options. 

I still recommend getting up and moving about during the working day, or investigating standing desks if you have a suitable space. But if you are going down the traditional desk route, make sure you get something supportive that will take care of your back. I’ve found the micro-adjustments available on top-end chairs key to finding comfort while still being supported. Your chair doesn’t only influence your work but also directly impacts your health and wellbeing. If you’re comfortable, you are happier, When you’re happy you do better work - so think about a new chair!

Face Time

Despite working remotely for a decade, We Are Sweet rarely made use of webcams before 2020. We regularly met clients or each other face-to-face and didn’t feel a real need to turn cameras on when taking a simple call. I myself didn’t even have a camera connected to my computer so I wasn’t able to appear on screen previously.

As COVID meant face-to-face was no longer possible this year, there was definitely a new void to fill. There was also a massively relaxed attitude to seeing into people’s homes and all the quirks, children, pets and dirty washing that comes with it. Given that we’re all in the same situation there’s a newfound tolerance for the delivery person knocking at your door, a siren flying past outside or even toilet breaks on longer calls. These occurrences would have seemed a little unprofessional in the past but I believe this is a huge step forward to normalising remote working. We’re all human after all. 

Calls typically include more people and larger groups in 2020, and video offers visual cues that make it easier for people to express themselves or know when it’s their turn to speak. There’s still some serious progress needed to address the eye-contact issues of webcam placement which will hopefully prevent people from staring endlessly at themselves. When I’m on a video call with clients I make the call window relatively small and place it right below my camera on the screen to make it feel more like I’m talking to them directly. Make use of the Zoom speaker and Gallery views to suit the type of call you are on too.

It’s worth getting a high-quality camera that can deal with the different lighting situations you will encounter and shows you clearly. I went for a 4K Logitech Brio that does a great job of dealing with the extreme sunshine and dark clouds that frequently battle over the London skies and affect the lighting around my desk. An added benefit of this particular camera is that you are able to adjust the focal length to be narrow, normal or superwide depending on how much or little you want to show of the space around you - also great for if there is more than just you appearing on camera at once. The Brio comes with a good quality microphone that has completely replaced my old solution given it sits in an ideal spot perched on my middle monitor. 

Vivid Video Vista

Talking of monitors, I’ve got some new ones. As a very particular designer, I like them to match - so replacing one meant replacing all 3. My original monitors were passed on and re-homed with another team member. I’ve chosen 27” Samsung LCJG5’s that come with a fairly significant curve to them. It’s a good job too as I don’t think flat 27’s would leave me any room on the desk. The curvature is not distracting, instead it elegantly wraps around you creating a smooth, consistent look that is easy to worth with. 

It was pointed out in the comments of my original workspace tour just how much screen glare I was suffering from as a result of having glossy screens in front of large windows. I was careful to choose far less reflective monitors that allow me to see what I’m doing more clearly and prevent the need to constantly close the curtains. 

As a gamer, I’d heard a lot about 1440 monitors. This number describes how many vertical pixels the monitor displays but put simply it means the resolution sits at around 2.5k somewhere between full HD (1920px wide) and 4k (3840px wide). This is a resolution I have been screaming out for in video production gear for a long time, and something DJI actually offers in their drones. Because 4k is not only twice as wide, but also twice as tall, it makes capturing or rendering around 4 times as demanding.

It’s really difficult to see the difference between 1080 and 4k on smaller screens and most of the time doesn’t warrant the cost or demands of equipment capable of producing 4k. At 27”, my new monitors are large enough to see the difference as the density of pixels is fewer per inch - but I still don’t need 4k resolution for something I’m sat only a couple of feet away from. The reason 1440 is so good for gamers is that it looks just as good at this size and it doesn’t overwork your graphics card. This means you can get better response rates and increase the number of frames per second making games feel more responsive and smoother.  

The 1440 sweet spot goes beyond destroying people at Fortnite though. As a designer, working on Full HD designs used to mean zooming out and viewing designs at an awkward 70-90% to create room for the software toolbars and controls. This creates aliasing issues on graphics and doesn’t give an accurate view of how the design feels at actual size. By having the extra pixels available on these monitors, I can work on designs at scale with room for my tools to float around the edges. 

There’s also a general productivity boost to having this additional pixel real-estate to play with. More pixels means you can see further across a spreadsheet, further down a document or generally just more of a dashboard, which I find particularly useful for crowded Monday.com dashboards. 2.5k pixels of width is also roughly 2 smaller laptop screens placed side by side. So even though I have just 3 screens, it’s almost like having 6 very tall laptop screens all alongside each other. This is really helpful for comparing documents or dedicating one screen to communications, particularly when making use of the Windows snap feature.

Perfect Precision

I’m a big fan of Logitech. They’re the goto-guys when it comes to peripherals and input devices for many professionals and gamers alike. My old Logitech Marathon mouse had served its time, worn around the edges and beginning to becoming less accurate with the grunge and grime that had built up in the sensor over the years. Sticking with Logitech, I have upgraded to the most recent flagship mouse, the MX Master 3.

It does everything you expect a mouse to do. It is comfortable and accurate, but it also does a few more things. The scroll wheel contains some magnetic mastery, so it’s very precise when scrolling line by line, but as soon as you want to hit the gas and scroll quickly through a long document it flies. The MX also features a horizontal scroll wheel that makes navigating complicated XD files a breeze and can also be used to scrub video timelines when editing. 2 additional thumb buttons offer further quick options that I use for undo/redo commands in just about all software to save time.

Newer Logitech devices use ‘Logitech Options’ which allows you to really customise your controls and set buttons to perform specific actions or even macros in certain programmes. There is even a secret button at the base of the thumb that I have hot-linked to launch the company Graphics folder which I’m in and out of all day.

Crafty Keys

Similarly to the mouse situation, my Logitech keyboard was showing some serious signs of aging too. I went for the top-end companion of the MX master and chose a Logitech Craft which is geared towards creativity. First off, this is a nice keyboard. It feels premium and inline or even above similar Apple products. The keyboard is wireless, backlit and features quality keys that make typing a pleasure. 

That’s all very well, but it’s pretty standard stuff. The part where this keyboard excels is that you can use it to control 3 devices. I know this isn’t particularly important to everyone but it is a godsend to be able to have one keyboard control not only my main desktop computer but, at the press of a button, take over my laptop or even my TV. The MX Mouse is also capable of the same technical trick and even works seamlessly with the iPad which means device testing is a much less stressful or drawn-out affair. 

Then there is the Craft’s crowning glory, it’s crown. A rather expensive addition of a small radial dial that lets you control whatever you set it to control. Using the Logitech Options software again, you can assign and customise the crown to different controls in different software. A light touch allows you to flick between controls within a program and literally dial in settings with precision. You are also able to click in the crown and assign different functions for press and turn. I’m not convinced general computer users would get a huge amount of use from this but for design, photography, video or music creation it is incredible. There are other similar control devices available such as Loupedeck products but these also come with a hefty price tag and they’re not even keyboards!

The Craft has some other nice touches, including a separate numpad which I swear by. There is a built-in proximity sensor that illuminates the keys when you’re nearby but saves battery when you’re not. It features handy shortcut keys for taking screenshots, launching calculator or controlling your sound settings - and of course, you can customise these to your heart’s content. I have a shortcut key that disables notifications which I can hit when jumping on another business Zoom conference call to prevent interruptions. 

Musical Accompaniment

My new speakers this year were a direct result of the old ones blowing up. Unfortunately, after nearly 10 years of use, my old M-Audios finally gave in. I wanted to replace these with a pair of speakers that would last just as long, offer even more clarity and accurate sound reproduction for sound and video work. 

The new Yamaha HS 7’s do exactly that. They’re designed for a flat response that makes mixing a more faithful experience so you can ensure your music track or video will sound good by having a neutral base as a starting point. While these speakers offer clear music and crisp conference calls, they are definitely overkill for more general day to day productivity. 

I take music seriously, they match my other hardware and look great standing alongside the new monitors. We’ll consider this one a slightly self-indulgent upgrade!

Cable Management

With so many screens, speakers and peripherals, I have a lot of cabling at my desk. These wires used to visibly run up through the middle of my desk and in behind my centre screen. Now my cabling runs the long route all the way around the wall and into the corner of the room before disappearing behind the desk. This meant purchasing extra-long (up to 5 metre) cables for video, power, and audio as well as USB extensions for the webcam. 

The result is a much cleaner look to the desk and it appears as though the monitors are floating. Not only does this look great but it follows my declutter mantra and means I have more space directly in front of me so my Wacom tablet can now sit right up against the wall. This reorganisation of cable management means there are even more power sockets present beneath the desk. I built a small wooden enclosure to hide these from sight and keep everything looking tidy. 

It’s probably the neat-freak in me, but not having a mess around me helps me to think and really focus on my work. Any workspace can benefit from a tidy up and a few cable ties can make a world of difference. I have been using special velcro ties that allow you to undo them to free wires and reattach as needed, I’d highly recommend them.

Portable Processing Power

While it’s not strictly part of the desk setup, my laptop was certainly a significant and overdue upgrade that contributes to my work. I wanted to stick with a Windows laptop which immediately throws out the typical choice for creatives, the Macbook Pro. There are a few high-powered Dells available but I haven’t had the greatest experience with these in the past either. Instead, I turned to the gamers to weigh up a Razer Blade. The performance of these things rivals any Mac equivalent, providing me with the processing and graphics power I need to do my work.

I have a second portable monitor that plug-and-plays straight in through USB and doesn’t require any additional power source. As Lockdown rules became less strict I was able to take this mobile setup with me and work from anywhere (that the government allowed). The Blade has been great so far, it’s lightning-fast and I’ll sometimes take it to the sofa or outside to the balcony to break up the day and change the scenery. 

We Are Sweet has taken on several new team members during 2020 who haven’t had the chance to meet in person with anyone else from the company. Like many businesses, we’ve replaced our usual team meet-ups with virtual team days or after work drinks via Zoom. The ability to fire up my laptop and move from my typical work spot over to the kitchen for these instances is a blessing, not only for work but my life around it. Hopefully, this great little tool will get more use outside of my home in 2021.

What does the Future hold?

My whole workspace is near perfect for me right now. It hasn’t been cheap to create, but I personally think it's money well spent on creating a productive, clutter-free environment where I can focus. The next potential upgrade that I can foresee is to take advantage of the new high-speed internet that will soon be available to my address. 

One of the problems I’ve witnessed as people adapt to work-from-home is lag. Slow internet doesn’t only affect the speed that you download files or access systems, it can quite literally destroy real-time conversations, particularly video calls. When someone is cutting in and out or has a delay in their stream, it can be almost impossible to hold a productive conversation. I don’t suffer from slow or laggy internet but as with my other work choices, I think it’s a worthwhile cause to get hold of the best internet connection available to you. 

I’m sure new technology and fancy new products will become available in the coming years, but the idea of buying quality gear is that you don’t have to keep replacing it. The workspace I reviewed last year had remained largely unchanged for 5+ years and I hope that this new set up will pass the test of time too. 

I have started to consider if the Loupedeck CT would speed up my work, but like any potential purchase, this needs much more research first.

How has 2020 changed your workspace?