Understanding occupants' experiences in quantified buildings: results from a series of exploratory studies

Quantified smart buildings increasingly utilise data-rich technologies (such as embedded sensors and personal wearables). Research and development however, rarely addresses occupants’ experiences and expectations in such environments, which is critical for designing ethical and occupant-centred workspaces. To support the design of human-centred smart buildings, a series of 4 workshops was conducted with a total of 27 participants, over 2 months, with occupants of a smart office building. Workshops used discursive (focus group) and projective (design fiction) techniques to qualitatively explore occupants’ perceptions of and concerns around the collection, processing and use of data within the building. Workshop data was thematically analysed, resulting in design implications for improving occupant experience in current smart workplaces, while also contributing implications for increasing the perceivability, accessibility and usability of data in such buildings. Contributing to discourses around Human-Building Interaction the paper concludes with discussion of future research challenges for occupant-centred development of quantified buildings.