The psychology of ship architecture and design

Early studies into the effects of design on behaviour were conducted on Norwegian ships in the 1970s, when M/S Hoegh Mistral and M/S Hoegh Multina were subject to action research (1970–1975) and M/S Balao was designed in cooperation between social researchers, architects and naval engineers (Johansen 1978; Lezaun 2011). On the two Hoegh ships, the aim was to develop a stimulating working situation by increasing autonomy and changing roles on board—including reducing status differences between officers and ratings. The aim of the M/S Balao was similar, but included the physical domain: to construct a physical artefact (the ship as a home and workplace) that would support a democratic mini society on board. There was in those days low morale on board the fleets of Northern Europe, allegedly due to hierarchically organized work, intense work schedules and tensions between crew members—leading to stress symptoms, injuries, high crew turnover and low effectiveness. The results of these interventions were positive, but no more studies followed, as we will discuss later.