Looks are not the brief
An office can look impressive in photographs and still make everyday work difficult. People can struggle to find a quiet place to think. Meetings can spill into open areas. Teams that need to sit together can end up far apart. None of that shows up in a nice picture, but people feel it every day.
Start with the people
I think the first question should be what people need from the space. How do they work? Who do they work with? When do they need to concentrate and when do they need to talk? Those answers should shape the plan long before anyone chooses a colour or a chair.
Ask better questions
Where do teams need to work together? Where do people need quiet? What gets in the way of a good day’s work right now? Which spaces in the current office go unused, and why? Good questions lead to decisions that serve the people who will use the space, not just the people who approve it.
Beauty still matters
None of this means design is unimportant. A well designed space tells people they are valued. It can help an organisation feel confident about who it is. The point is that beauty should support the work rather than compete with it. The best workplaces I have seen do both.
A simple test
When a workplace is finished, I like to ask a simple question. Does it make good work easier? If the honest answer is yes, the project has done its job.