After seven months of working from our homes, Peter and I have moved into Runway SF, a coworking space. Even though it recently opened, it already consists of a number of startups, technology companies, and related businesses. We were lucky and had a connection through a colleague who introduced us to Runway’s office manager. We grabbed two window seats.

Runway is the cool new kid in the shared workspace community

This space is really cool. First of all, it is in the Twitter building, along with Yammer. Considering that Recognize is partnering with Yammer, the location couldn’t be better.

The long hallway, or runway, is filling in with companies. Every day new companies are moving in. We really got in right at the beginning. Runway doesn’t even have a website yet.

Runway space itself has a lot going for it. The space includes a nice bar, igloo-like meeting room, sound proof conference room, lots of windows (that open!) , kick-ass meeting event area, and you can easily play frisbee 🙂

The igloo meeting room

What is really cool about the igloo is the light show it puts on via remote control.

Bar

The bar area is usually stocked with beer and liquor. Plus it touts a great ice machine, and sorted compost, recycling, and garbage.

Corner hang out / party prep area

Back in the far SW corner overlooks Market St. It has a small kitchen table, arcade console beer keg contraption, and a big refrigerator.

All this space needs is a ping pong table!

I initially began Recognize because I wanted an easy and impactful way to let my coworkers know how much I appreciated them. Since starting, more people have joined the Recognize team, and one of many things we share is the belief that Recognize can truly improve company culture. Knowing that most companies don’t have the resources to build their own homegrown employee appreciation application, we set out to build a standard one that was fun and easy. Recognize is a straightforward tool that any company can use.

One of our main goals has been to follow nature as close as possible, from the level of the elevator pitch on down to the buttons. Why? Because successful apps are ones that seamlessly digitize real life. That’s why check-in apps (mostly) aren’t successful: We don’t naturally check-in to restaurants — it’s just weird. But we do like to share our thoughts and our photos, hence the success of Facebook and Instagram. And recognizing people and rewarding others with badges is an archetype going back thousands of years.

Recognize draws on the natural instinct to articulate and categorize appreciation, increasing positivity in the process. Coworkers view and validate recognitions, adding to the social element of the app. This social aspect is crucial — people love it when others know that they’ve done a good job, including when that good job is the act of giving recognition itself.

As we’ve worked on Recognize, we’ve also researched social recognition, and have learned about how our instincts about Recognize are actually supported by research findings. We discovered that recognized employees are more engaged, and employees who are engaged are more likely to be motivated, productive, and profitable.

We made Recognize to feel good and share good feelings with those around us. Afterall, we are at work for at least 40 hours a week. Might as well enjoy that time as best we can.