How To Enhance The User-Friendliness Of Your Company Premises

Enhancing the user-friendliness of your brand’s website is probably something you think about every day. But what about the user-friendliness of your company premises? 

Unfortunately, most firms neglect to think about how they can improve the friendliness of their facilities. While they might understand intellectually why it is so critical, they don’t take any positive steps to actually make it real. 

That’s where this post can help. It runs through some of the methods you can use to boost functionality and ensure that everyone who uses your site is happy to stay. 

Refresh Regularly

First, you’ll want to start by developing a plan to refresh your premises regularly. You want to make sure that they aren’t stagnant and that people have something new and interesting to look forward to. 

For example, you might consider rotating the decor or updating the furniture. You could also do things like change the layout every now and then to keep things feeling vibrant. 

What’s nice about refresh sessions is that they are usually quite inexpensive. You’re just changing a couple of things here and there to disrupt the visuals without emptying your bank account. 

Add Consistent Branding

It also helps if you have consistent branding. You want to ensure you have the same colors in your office as you do on your social media and website. 

Again, this helps to make your premises more user-friendly. People visiting you actually know where they are and feel confident that you are offering them a real service. 

Furthermore, when you bring everything together like this, it improves the overall experience. People are much more likely to understand why your branding makes sense online, even if they haven’t met you in person yet. 

Install Child-Friendly Areas

You might consider investing in child-friendly areas, too. These are handy in some businesses, especially those where staff members bring their kids to work.

Ideally, you want something that resembles a creche or play area. Usually, you can find external companies that will run and manage these operations, preventing you from having to do it yourself. Specialist care providers can watch and monitor children while they play as their adults work elsewhere in the building. 

Use Scent Control

You might also want to invest in so-called “scent control” to make your building friendlier to stakeholders. Companies can often wind up smelling different from how they’d like, just because of the sheer numbers of people involved and the overall throughput of individuals. 

Scent control comes in two forms: 

• Hiding odors
• Adding new odors

First, you’ll want to deal with any lingering smells that are unpleasant, especially from flooring and bathrooms. These involve spraying rooms with chemicals that react with scent compounds and neutralise them. 

Second, you’ll want to explore the idea of adding new fragrances, something you can discuss with office experts. Numerous companies can infuse your workspaces with different smells to fit more closely with your brand. While this approach is great for food companies, even digital marketing agencies and law firms seek signature scents. 

Use Breakout Zones

Another feature you should include to make your office more user-friendly is the classic breakout zone. These are places to lounge around with bean bags and board games, giving workers a space to rest their minds and get away from their computers. 

Breakout zones don’t have to be enormous, but it does help if they are some distance from primary productivity areas. This gap prevents noise from traveling from one to the other and disturbing people (something you’ll want to avoid at all costs if you can). 

Prioritize Accessibility

Of course, if you want to make your premises user-friendly for everyone, you also have to think about accessibility. Prioritizing it ensures that everyone is welcome at your facilities, not just those with able bodies. 

You’ll want to start with things like ramps and commercial railings. These provide access to wheelchair users or those who require support while walking. 

You also want to widen doorways and provide elevators for people who can’t climb the stairs. These additions are often costly, but also well worth it in the long-term to enable everyone who wants to visit your premises to do so.  

Put Up Clear Signs

Another pro tip is to put up clear signs telling people where they need to go when they enter your premises. Making it clear what they should do next is essential. Otherwise, you’ll wind up with a lot of lost people who can’t find their way anywhere. 

The signage doesn’t have to be complicated, or even particularly professional–it just needs to be there. Once it is in place, people can come and go and direct themselves, instead of constantly pestering the front desk and reception staff. 

Install Comfortable Seating Areas

At the same time, you can also increase the user-friendliness of your company premises by adding comfortable seating areas. These avoid people having to wait around awkwardly in corridors. 

Waiting areas should be as pleasant as possible to reduce the inconvenience of having to wait. Stakeholders should have access to comfortable sofas, reading materials, drinks, and even toys if they have children with them. 

You’ll notice that a little comfort goes a long way. People are more relaxed, and it makes a difference in how they treat your staff and colleagues. It seems like a small thing, but it isn’t. 

Install Natural Lighting

Natural lighting is another way to enhance your premises. Sunlight flooding in through the windows makes everything feel more welcoming and alive. 

Try to avoid harsh fluorescent or LED lighting. While these are sometimes the only option, some people can find them difficult to deal with, including giving them headaches, which isn’t what you want when someone new is on your premises. 

If natural light isn’t available at all, try to use warm and adjustable artificial lighting. Many companies now make bulbs that mimic the sort of light people would experience throughout the day, like sunlight at noon and firelight in the evenings. 

Add Temperature Control

Temperature is also something that can affect comfort at your premises, so you’ll want to think about this, too. If it’s too hot, staff will feel stuffy and perhaps even angry, while if it is too cold, they’ll feel fatigued and low energy. 

The trick here is to get the balance right. There’s no right answer for everyone, but most offices are 68-72°F or 20-22°C. This temperature mimics the average heat of the African savannah and makes people feel much more comfortable. 

If you want to add zoned temperature controls, you can do this too. Some people prefer to be warmer while they work than others. 

Tidy Spaces

Tidying your spaces can also turn your office into a user-friendly paradise. When everything is hygienic, it makes it more likely that people will use it. 

This applies particularly to equipment that people wear. PPE is far less likely to be worn if it’s already moldy, and most of it will simply go to waste. 

Add A Biophilic Design

It’s also wise to add a biophilic design to make the experience of your premises more welcoming. Adding plants and greenery improves aesthetics while also making the space healthier. 

Generally, people don’t like sharing stuffy offices with dozens of other people. However, they can usually put up with it if there are plenty of plants around, offering greenery. 

Unfortunately, plants and offices don’t usually go well together because of the need for sunlight. However, you can fix this issue by placing them next to windows or under skylights. 

If you can, pick plants known since ancient times for their ability to survive indoors and improve well-being. These are the top picks for many people. 

If that doesn’t work, think about investing in a vertical garden or even an indoor waterfall. These can bring nature inside at a low cost, powered by LED lighting. 

Guarantee Reliable Wi-Fi

You also want to guarantee reliable Wi-Fi at your premises so that people on calls or typing emails don’t run into dead zones. To do this, you’ll need to install various range extenders. These devices pick up the Wi-Fi signal at the source and then amplify it, relaying user data back to its original location. 

Once you have reliable Wi-Fi in place, it gets easier for guests to remain productive. They simply set up a wireless network on their computers, and that’s the end of it. 

Include Safety Features

Finally, you’ll want to ensure your commercial premises have safety features. These include visible signs for fire exits and smoke detectors. 

Again, these improve the user-friendliness of company properties by ensuring visitors and employees are well looked after. It also keeps people safe if there is a fire or another disaster, telling them where to go and what to do if there’s an emergency. 

So there you have it: some of the ways you can make your company premises more user-friendly. You won’t have to implement all of these extensive ideas; just a few can make a lot of difference and cause stakeholders to remember you for all the right reasons.