Software for the modern facility management industry should be as simple as possible, and no simpler. Just ask FMClarity.
Einstein was probably thinking of atoms and light particles, not business software, when he said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”.
This sound bite presents a dilemma for people who want to make order out of digital chaos. If it was just as easy as taking away elements until there’s nothing left but a blinking cursor, then we’d all be learning program command lines instead of swiping right with a finger. Making software that clicks with people is a lot like teaching someone to ride a bike. At the start they will require a lot of hand holding, but not so much that when we let go they lose the will to continue.
From blue collar to white collar
Software for facility management was designed decades ago with the sole purpose of cataloguing the mundane – things like work orders, parts and asset lists and maintenance schedules. Much of the legacy software in FM are merely forks of software originally built for manufacturing. Though the software has remained the same for so long, the jobs it was built to support haven’t. Over the decades, the role of FM has evolved from a hands-on blue collar role to a white collar management role with a whole reporting chain. Cleaners, staff members, tenants and technicians are all expected to interact with a software suite that handles a request in a procedural manner so that things don’t get missed and progress can be monitored.
Like the conservative nature of property itself, the software industry hasn’t embraced this evolution in FM, not to mention the rapid advances in technology. As a result, the facility management sector has been left behind.
The most obvious way to improve this operational framework is to take the route taken by consumer software builders: improve the design. This means giving serious consideration not just to the look and feel of menus and fonts; it also means developing workflows that follow the type of organic thought processes taken by human beings. For a computer program, it may make more sense to start with an asset’s serial number, but a human being doesn’t think like that. They start with a location and a problem. That’s why workflows must be redesigned to contextualise requests the way that we do, not the other way around.
At a more human level, the rapid innovation of software can sometimes feel misplaced in facility management for the health and aged care sectors. While commercial real estate may be eager to take on the latest and greatest in technology, the ‘facility’ in aged care and health is someone’s home. In particular, it’s the home for people who feel especially vulnerable and alienated from modern tech. They’re also populated by workers in the FM chain (nurses, social workers, ward attendants, cleaners) who have higher priorities than playing nice with advanced software.
Keeping it simple… and also enjoyable
If the explicit goal of improving FM software is to make existing processes as simple as possible – and no simpler – then there must be room for human ingenuity and adaptability. It may sound counterintuitive, but the answer may lie in making it enjoyable.
When a worker creates a new work order they shouldn’t have to navigate through a design covered in bubbly animations. All they need is something clean and familiar with a logical flow so they don’t become confused completing simple tasks. They need a workflow that allows for mistakes without creating a chain reaction of unwanted outcomes. They need live reports that are pre-filled, but with plenty of scope to edit over the top and to add context. They need to feel like the software is there with the goal of working for them, not as their replacement.
As simple as possible… whatever possible may be
With the exponential growth in technology, it seems we are seeing new innovations emerge almost every second day. Some of these are making their way into the built environment. Some of them are proven, others less so. What is quite clear though is that a rapid way to improve human management of assets and facilities is to make the process as intuitive, familiar and flexible as possible. Stability and reliability, combined with a well designed and welcoming user interface, provide the best possible backbone upon which advanced analytics can be overlaid to revolutionise the management of the built environment. Quick implementation, intuitive workflows. As simple as possible, and no simpler.
FMClarity is an app and web-based platform for the management of work orders, compliance and assets for commercial and residential facilities. FMClarity borrows design cues from the consumer space to create a familiar and instantly recognisable user environment, doing away with the need for costly training. FMClarity has been designed by former facilities professionals who couldn’t find what they needed, so they created it for themselves.
For more info and a demonstration, contact us on 1300 111 FMC, or at contact@fmclarity.com
