Understanding the Touchless Workplace

Source: Gensler Published: April 15, 2020

As experience designers, we think of friction as any moment that prevents an uninterrupted flow through the built environment, and we try to come up with solutions that can create “frictionless experiences.”

In the workplace, digital solutions and platforms have eliminated some of the noise by improving guest check-in, conference room booking, company communications, wayfinding, food and beverage service, and more.

Now, the coronavirus has us evolving our perspective of the frictionless workplace because many of the solutions we’ve put in place so far have been reliant on touch technology – kiosks that require navigation via touch, conference room booking screens outside of the door, sign-in tablets, or even biometric fingerprint scans. All of these conveniences start to look like health risks in light of the recent pandemic and other viral threats.

When we return to our physical workplaces, we need to rethink how we introduce interfaces that aren’t just frictionless, but also touchless. We should start by looking strategically at the various technologies already available to us.

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