Smart workplace solutions – can they deliver the offices that employees have been waiting for?

Abstract

Purpose: User-centred intelligent buildings (IBs) should respond to users’ needs holistically and the demand for end user applications is steadily growing. The purpose of this study is to answer: What are end user applications, what should they be called, and what are their key features? Design/methodology/approach: This is a mixed-method study. The authors have used different data sources, such as online research and interviews. In data processing, the authors have used word counting and Latent Dirichlet Allocation topic modeling. Findings: These end user applications can provide the missing user-centered elements of IBs. The authors have found that “smart workplace solution” (SWS) is the best term to describe these applications, and they also describe the key features, which include booking, showing free spaces, occupancy tracking, wayfinding and searching. Research limitations/implications: As the end user applications are constantly and rapidly evolving, the latest evolving of such applications might not be covered. Furthermore, the authors have relied on companies’ information as given. Originality/value: IBs have emerged over 20 years ago, and these are the first solutions that can be considered truly user-centered.