Technology is one of the most expensive and impactful investments an institution can make.
In today’s day-to-day life we are so reliable in technology that we think everything can be set-up with the touch of a button or a voice command. “Hey Google,” “Alexa” and “Siri”, have been so useful on those days that we needed them the most. Our virtual assistants have been right beside us in the good and the bad that we can no longer live without them, but the truth is that when it comes to set-up the technology in a space that we are not familiar with and that is not aligned with the intent and purpose of the space we struggle a lot that not even our virtual assistant can save us.
“Most spaces aren’t capable of working hard for your people because of misalignments between the surroundings, furniture, and technology.”
This misalignment in the space between furniture and technology can cause people to waste time. About 8–12 minutes of every meeting is spent trying to get technology to work, furthermore, people can feel technology-related stress about meetings not going as plan.
Not only technology can be part of the problem, but also the misalignments of the space and the furniture can cause everything to go wrong. Imagine you are taking a class from a presenter in a room where there’s a glare right into the screen or even worse you cannot read the blurry content shown in the projection screen… Oh, Gee! The dreading echo is starting to come out of the speaker and the background noise from those kids getting into the school bus has totally caused you to be distracted from the actual presentation…
… — “Hey Google! Lower noise background to 4 and adjust the glare on the screen.”
You wish those magic words will work, but this time not even the most powerful virtual assistant can help with that.
This imaginative experience is an example of a room with a lack of cohesion where the furniture, technology, and architecture are not working together, hence this is resulting in the most unpleasant learning experience.
Next time you consider remodeling or design your new space you should consider a design process that does not silo design, specification, and installation as separate components, but instead, you should seek an integrative and collaborative process that includes furnishings, technology, and place altogether.
In order to achieve the most pleasant experience, facility managers, end-users, architects, and designers must collaborate to translate the design intent to the technology and furniture providers. They should work together to put people at the heart of the design process and no the other way around with the technology…
…you may be wondering” — Hey Google, when will I be able to see the ROI at my campus?” Well, unfortunately, this time Google does not have the answer, but we do…
Only when the SFT alignment process* happens in your campus, the investment in technology will be valuable and effective by saving time and money in the long run.
