Object heatmap & utilization

Overview

The object heatmap and utilization statistics are created without using personal related information, similar to the building statistics. The calculations are made with anonymized reservation based on the data which object is booked and when. To calculate these statistics, it's not relevant to know which user crated the reservation. This means that the data can be stored theoretically for an unlimited time due to GDPR. Compared to the building and floor plan statistics, this type of statistic goes one abstraction level deeper to analyze the objects on a selected floor plan.

Object heatmap

Navigate as an administrator in Flexopus to Dashboard > Analytics > Building statistics and select Object heatmap tab. Then select the timeframe and the location you would like to analyze. It's important to select an exact floor and not just a building.

There are always more preferred objects in a building. The colleagues have preferences, but there are also environmental factors that lead to a lower utilization for an object. On the heatmap, you can see such anomalies and optimize the office space based on the collected utilization data.

The coloring of the map is based on this value. 100% is a high utilization, which means that the object is booked very often. 0% is a low utilization, which means that the object was never booked in the selected time frame.

You can select between two type of heatmaps in the right top corner: day based utilization and hour based utilization

Day based heatmap

The day based heatmap calculates the utilization of the objects assuming that the object's utilization is 100% on the target day, if the object was book at least once on that day, no matter how long the reservation was. This type of utilization calculation is ideal for work stations and parking spots, since they are well utilized if somebody booked them at least once a day. On the hand, this type of utilization calculation does not fit for a meeting room, since a meeting room shall be booked multiple times, for the meeting rooms we recommend the hour based utiloization.

Calculation example for day based utilization:
value = sum booking days / all workdays
sum booking days: Number of days with at least one booking in the selected time frame. Counting only on weekdays.
all workdays: Number of workdays in the selected time frame. Weekends does not count. Holidays count.

Hour based utilization

The hour based utilization is based on the time frame you configured in Flexopus as an administrator at Dashboard > Settings > Analytics settings > Time range. The application takes as a standard the work time configuration in the booking settings, however you can change it to a custom time frame as well. If you change it, please wait 24 hours so that we can recalculate the statistics for you.

Calculation example for day based utilization:
value = sum hours booked / all possible hours
sum hours booked: Sum the hours with a valid booking in the time frame configured for the analytics. Counting only on weekdays.
all possible hours: Sum of all possible hours on the workdays in the selected time frame. Weekends does not count. Holidays count.

Example Heatmap

Let's take as an example this office map and let's analyze the behavior of the colleagues for the past 90 day.

We marked can detect 5 common behavior on the heatmap based in the collected bookings from the past 90 days:

CASE 1: Desk in the entrance area
In the first case we can see that at the entrance of the office floor the work stations are less utilized. They are also exposed to the people and guest coming into the office. Generally people like privacy, therefor these desks are utilized less than the others.

CASE 2: Desk near to bigger meeting rooms
In this case the desk are well hidden from the entrance area, still they are less utilized, since most of the colleagues will walk there to enter the big meeting room. The privacy criteria was important here as well. Other colleagues can see the monitor, which nobody really likes, even if there is nothing to hide, privacy goes first, if there is a choice.

CASE 3: T shape work station islands
You can place three 160cm×80cm desk in a T shape formation. The T desk will be most probably a bit more exposed than the others. The T desk will be directed into the middle of the room. Secondly, the colleagues on the left and the right are in a field of view, you get the eye contact of the other twice as much as for the other desk. For this two reasons, the desk is less utilized.

CASE 4: Cornered desk with hidden monitor
This is a well utilized desk as a positive example. The desk is hidden, the monitor is looking in the wall direction and there is only one way to get behind the desk. The colleagues get almost a maximal privacy here.

CASE 5: Cornered desk with window
Very similar desk to CASE 4, however in this case there is also a window on the left side, looking on the street. This desk is preferred more over CASE 4.

CASE 6: Separated room
The ultimate desk, which gets booked the most, is always a private office with 1-2 work stations maximum.

CASE 7: Special equipment
The desk has a special PC for video editing. The colleagues are asked to book that desk always as a last resort. Probably it would be the best to relocate that desk to another position, due to the low utilization.

Other factors that may influence the utilization of an object:

• smells / stinks: The toilet is nearby.
• laud / noisy: The kitchen is nearby
• cold: The air conditioner is nearby.
• blending monitor: The monitor in blending from the window.

As you can see, there are multiple factors that could influence the office utilization. If the colleagues see that only the "bad" work stations are left for the day, then they may stay at home, instead of going to the office. This way, you will never reach a 100% utilization, the demand is there, however the colleagues prefer a higher standard then the once that you can offer over a 70% occupancy.