Public defence, Design, MSc Pinar Simsek Çaglar

Title of the thesis: Entangled at Work: A sociomaterial inquiry into user experience and work engagement in digital collaboration

Thesis defender: Pinar Simsek Çaglar
Opponent: Prof. Prof. Jessica Lindblom, Uppsala University, Sweden
Custos: Prof. Virpi Roto, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Digital tools have become an integral part of almost every kind of work. Yet they are often considered primarily in terms of efficiency and usability, even though their infl uence extends to how work feels and is experienced. This thesis examines how digital tools shape emotional experiences at work and how these experiences relate to work engagement and employee well-being. It explores these questions through the case of Miro, an online collaborative whiteboard widely used by design and product development teams.

Research on user experience has traditionally focused on leisure and consumer products, leaving us with a much more limited understanding of user experience at work. This thesis examines how user experiences take shape at work and how positive experiences with digital tools are associated with work engagement, an important dimension of employee well-being.

Research on user experience at work within human-computer interaction (HCI) remains fragmented. User experience is often treated as synonymous with usability, with limited attention to how the context and practices of work shape people’s experiences with technology. UX research has also long assumed that positive experiences with technology are associated with work engagement, but empirical evidence for this relationship remains limited. This thesis brings together two complementary perspectives to examine these questions: a sociomaterial perspective and the Job Demands-Resources model used in research on work engagement and well-being. The sociomaterial perspective helps explain how people, technology, and the context of work are inseparably intertwined.

The thesis comprises three studies: a literature review and interviews with remote designers and hybrid, multidisciplinary teams. It shows that transparency and unity are prominent experiences in digital collaboration, and traces the relational mechanisms through which they emerge. Their meaning and effects depend on how people, technology, and the context of work come together in practice. They are also linked to autonomy, competence, and relatedness, which serve as resources for work engagement.

Together, the studies show that user experience at work is not a fixed property of either a tool or its user. Rather, it emerges through the ongoing interplay of people, technology, and situated work practices. The findings also provide empirical evidence of an association between positive experiences with digital work tools and work engagement, a relationship that has previously received limited empirical attention.

The findings have implications for both designers of collaborative digital tools and organisations managing remote and hybrid work. Rather than focusing solely on individual features designed to produce predetermined outcomes, the results highlight the importance of understanding how digital tools become part of everyday work practices and how seemingly ordinary moments of collaboration are connected to experiences of connection and engagement over time.

Designing for positive user experiences at work is therefore more than a question of usability. Attention to user experience can form part of efforts to support employee well-being and the social sustainability of digital work. As remote and hybrid collaboration becomes increasingly common, understanding how digital tools shape everyday experiences at work becomes an increasingly important part of supporting an engaged and sustainable working life.

Keywords: user experience; user experience at work; human-computer interaction; sociomateriality; work engagement

Thesis available for public display 7 days prior to the defence at Aalto University's public display page. 

Contact information: pinar.simsek@aalto.fi
www.linkedin.com/in/pinar-simsek-caglar