Transforming Work by Design

Improving work requires more than sound principles or good intentions. Work design takes place within complex organisational systems shaped by competing priorities, established practices, resource constraints, technological change, and the lived realities of workers. Translating human-centred principles into meaningful change therefore requires practical methods, collaboration, and the capacity to adapt as new insights and challenges emerge.Transforming Work by Design: Human-Centred Methods and Cases demonstrates how these principles translate into practice. Building on the conceptual foundations established in the authors’ previous book, Good Work Design: Conceptualisation and Practice for Sustainable Futures, it moves from framework to application, showing how human-centred methods help workplaces understand and address complex workplace challenges across the phases of Discovery, Design, and Realisation. Through practical methods and candid, real-world cases, contributors reveal how work design unfolds within complex organisational settings. They examine achievements while appreciating the constraints, negotiations, adaptations, and learning that shaped each initiative. Together, these accounts illuminate the realities of transforming work and offer transferable insights for practitioners seeking to create meaningful and sustainable change. The book equips readers to improve work in ways that support organisational performance while protecting health and safety, strengthening wellbeing, and contributing to more sustainable futures.A vital resource for professionals responsible for understanding, designing or transforming work, Transforming Work by Design: Human-Centred Methods and Cases is particularly relevant to human factors and ergonomics practitioners, design and systems engineers, organisational and human resource professionals, occupational health and safety practitioners, researchers, and leaders responsible for workforce and organisational transformation.