Maral Babapour Chafi

Phone: +46-704304532
E-mail: maral.babapour.chafi@vgregion.se

Research areas

I am a design and human factors researcher, with a focus on workplace development. My research primarily applies a user-centred design methodology to study the complex, multi-dimensional relationship between people and technical systems. A major interest is to understand how new workplace solutions - covering products, services, systems or environments - are adopted into everyday life. My work also includes developing methods and tools for (re-)designing workplaces and addressing occupational health and safety issues in the workplace. The overall approach in my research is interactive and interpretative; it involves a close collaboration with multiple stakeholders in actual workplaces.

The overarching purpose of my research is to contribute with knowledge to support a use(r) centred development of resource-efficient and health-promoting workplace solutions that make work and life fulfilling and meaningful for employees.

Ongoing projects

Currently, I am leading a research project about implementation of Activity-based Flexible Offices (also called AFO/ABW/ABO) in the public sector in West Sweden. The project deals with different topics; e.g. longitudinal evaluation of AFOs with respect to employees’ perceived health and performance; occupational health and safety management in AFOs; design and ergonomics evaluation of AFOs; implementing evidence-based design changes; and process evaluations.

My research activities also involve a close collaboration with Division Design & Human Factors at Chalmers, addressing two major topics: circularity and sustainable product use; and healthy work systems and ergonomics.

Publications

Forooraghi M, Miedema E, Ryd N, Wallbaum H, Babapour Chafi M  
Relationship between the design characteristics of activity-based flexible offices and users’ perceptions of privacy and social interactions
Building Research & Information, 2023

Babapour M, Hultberg A, Bosic N.
Post-Pandemic Office Work- Perceived Challenges and Opportunities for a Sustainable Work Environment
Environment. Sustainability 2022

Babapour Chafi, M. and Cobaleda-Cordero, A. 
Methods for eliciting user experience insights in workplace studies- spatial walkthroughs, experience curve mapping and card sorting
Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 2021

A handbook of theories on designing alignment between people and the office environment
Taylor & Francis Group, 2021

Babapour Chafi, M, Harder M, Bodin Danielsson, C
Workspace preferences and non-preferences in Activity-based Flexible Offices: Two case studies
Applied Ergonomics, 2019

Babapour Chafi, M  
From fading novelty effects to emergent appreciation of Activity-based Flexible Offices: Comparing the individual, organisational and spatial adaptations in two case organisations 
Applied Ergonomics, 2019 

Babapour Chafi, M (avhandling) 
The Quest for the Room of Requirement - Why Some Activity-based Flexible Offices Work While Others Do Not 
Chalmers tekniska högskola, April 2019 

Cobaleda Cordero, A., Babapour Chafi, m., Karlsson M   
Feel well and do well at work: A post-relocation study on the relationships between employee well-being and office landscape 
Journal of Corporate Real Estate, 2019  

Babapour Chafi, M., Rolfö L  
Policies in Activity-based Flexible Offices -‘I am sloppy with clean-desking. We don’t really know the rules.’ 
Ergonomics, 2019 

Rolfö, L., Jahncke, H., Slunga Järvholm, L., Öhrn, M., Babapour Chafi, M
Predictors of Preference for the Activity-based Flexible Office 
Proceedings in Human Systems Engineering and Design, 2018