How do you solve a problem like… workspace design? Introducing OBI Swish

I’ve been working in interior design for seven years and over the course of that time I have always been frustrated at the time-consuming traditional approach to office design.

We love collaboration, and sitting down with clients to plan a new workspace and to drive their business forward is always exciting. But traditionally, it has taken a long time. From start to finish, there are various stages and getting various parties within an organisation together to gather their input can be a laborious process.

Generally, we go through various stages of workshops before getting a full idea of what the client needs. It can take a while, and ultimately it is costing our clients time and money, because they’re dedicating time and resources to all these meetings.

For some time then I’ve been thinking ‘how could we create a much simpler and effective method to do this, and make things work more effectively for our clients?’

Coming up with new ways of working and challenging orthodoxies is never, ever easy – however, working at OBI where innovation and new ideas are encouraged gave me the freedom to work in, and led to the conception and creation of ‘OBI Swish’.

OBI Swish has been created to simplify the interior design process through the use of a technology platform, which allows users to access the most innovative concepts in workplace design today. This is a solution that could only have come together in the age of widespread use of digital technologies.

OBI Swish takes inspiration from some of the world’s most successful apps – with one simple ‘swish’ left or right, users choose what they like and don’t like from the design concepts they’re shown. This allows us as operators of the platform to collate the aspirations from the people involved in the project and involve them in the personalisation of a new space. The most popular choices will then be integrated into the design.

So is this being put to use in the market yet? Yes. Since the inception of OBI Swish, we have been working with Booking.com as the company, one of the most forward-thinking in Europe, prepares to move to an inspirational new 220,000 sq ft headquarters site at Manchester Goods Yard, Enterprise City.

This has allowed around 1,000 colleagues within Booking.com to influence their future space as we aim to create a new benchmark in quality and design of workspaces.

It’s all been made possible by OBI Swish – a thoroughly modern take on inclusive design and widespread collaboration, allowing staff at all levels to contribute to the place that will be their working home. We’re looking forward to putting our Swish to work with more clients soon.