Naming is something that I have had an on-again, off-again relationship with. Out of school, I knew with a burning passion that words mattered and that a good name could make an idea win or lose. About 7 years later, I knew beyond a doubt that names did not matter and that the ideas would win or lose on their own regardless; the name would eventually turn up if the idea was good enough.
I now have a much more nuanced relationship with names. Sometimes they matter and sometimes they don’t, and the difference between the two is highly situation dependent. When rolling something out to a large group of people, a good name is critical to promote clarity. A good name can ensure that the concept is given a positive first impression. Too early in the process, a bad name can stick and bring ridicule or incredulity to an otherwise good idea.
This brings us back to the conversation around Workplace or Workspace. On the surface, they taste and feel the same for most people. The front half of “Work” provides the strong connotation that both are about the same overriding, obvious topic. However, the second half of each word gives us “Place” versus “Space.” A place brings the idea of something fairly wide from a floor of a building to a block to even a city or larger. Space feels smaller in comparison. A space could easily be seen as a single-seat yet still provides enough ambiguity that it could be bigger than that but certainly not as large as the whole building or more.
Therefore, when choosing between Workplace and Workspace, the difference would lie in how big you want the reader to interpret the concept. Workplace should be used when you are talking bigger picture, multiple sites, entire floorplans. Workspace should be used when you want the concept to feel more personal. A workplace is a corporate thing where as a workspace is a personal thing.
In most cases, this difference here should not matter. But in the cases where it would matter, it’s worth considering which makes the most sense.
Great ideas! Thank you for sharing🌹