Create and manage neighborhoods

Neighborhoods group desks on the office map so teams can sit together. Work Areas created in the Layout tool are Neighborhoods, and you manage them in the Assignments tool.

What neighborhoods are

Neighborhoods organize the office floor plan visually so specific teams or departments can sit together. Administrators use them to group desks on the map. Each neighborhood shows its desks in one color on the map, with labels that show which desks belong to it.

For admins

• Visual Planning: Neighborhoods are a visual guide when you draft seating plans. The color-coded desks and labels show how the office is organized at a glance.
• Resource Management: Neighborhoods show how many desks are and are not allocated to a neighborhood. This helps you make sure an area has enough desks for a team or department.
• Drafting: You can draft neighborhoods across multiple explorations and share them with other team members to agree before you publish them live.

For end users

• Wayfinding: When employees book a desk or look for their desk, the map labels and desk styling show them right away where their team sits.
• Improved Collaboration: Neighborhoods guide everyone on a team to book in the same area, so their time in the office is as productive as possible.

Open neighborhoods

You manage neighborhoods in an assignment draft on the map.

1. Go to the Map tab in the main navigation.
2. Select the Edit floor button at the top right of the map.
3. From the dropdown menu, select Assignments - Quick edits or Assignments - Scenario planning.

Quick edits vs. Scenario planning

• Quick edits allow only 1 active draft with few extra features. They suit small, routine changes to a floor plan.
• Scenario planning drafts have more drafting options. You can create multiple Scenario Planning drafts to explore different floor plan scenarios. You can change the draft name, clear all assignments, clear all neighborhoods, and share a read-only version with other team members.

Create new neighborhoods

In a Quick Edit or Scenario Planning draft, you can draft neighborhoods on the map. You can start from a button or from a desk selection.

Create a neighborhood with the ‘Create new neighborhood’ button

1. Select the Neighborhoods tab in the left sidebar. The sidebar opens to Assignments by default.

   

2. Select the Create new neighborhood button in the left sidebar.

3. A right sidebar titled "New neighborhood" opens.

   

4. Enter a name for your neighborhood in the Name text input.
5. Pick a color for your neighborhood in the color picker dropdown.

6. To add a desk, select it on the map. Robin adds it to the neighborhood right away.

   

7. To select multiple desks, hold down the Shift key, then click and drag across the desks.

   

8. To remove desks, select any selected desks on the map, or select the [x] button next to any added desks in the sidebar.
9. To finish, select the Create button at the bottom of the sidebar.

Create a neighborhood from a desk selection

1. Select the Neighborhoods tab in the left sidebar. The sidebar opens to Assignments by default.
2. Select one or more desks on the map. A right overview sidebar opens for the selected desks.

3. Select the "Neighborhood" dropdown, then select + Create new.

   

4. The "New neighborhood" sidebar opens with the selected desks already added. Continue with the steps in the section above.

View, edit, and delete a neighborhood

In a Quick Edit or Scenario Planning draft with existing neighborhoods, you can view, edit or delete the existing neighborhoods.

View neighborhood details

Select the label of a neighborhood on the map, or its item in the left navigation. A right sidebar opens with the neighborhood details and a summary of its desks.

Edit a neighborhood

1. Select the label of a neighborhood on the map.

2. Select the Edit button at the bottom of the sidebar. This button shows only when you are in the Neighborhoods tab of a draft. The "Edit neighborhood" sidebar opens.

   

3. To change the name of your neighborhood, edit the Name text input.
4. To change the color of your neighborhood, select a new option in the color picker dropdown.
5. To add a desk, select it on the map. Robin adds it to the neighborhood right away.
6. To add multiple desks at once, hold down the Shift key, then click and drag across the desks.
7. To save your changes, select Save at the bottom of the "Edit neighborhood" sidebar.

Delete a neighborhood

1. Select the Edit button at the bottom of the sidebar. This button shows only when you are in the Neighborhoods tab of a draft.
2. Select the Delete button at the bottom of the sidebar.

Note: Deleting a neighborhood removes it from the draft permanently. The desks and their existing assignments stay on the map, but they no longer belong to the neighborhood.

Set neighborhood display settings

In a Quick Edit or Scenario Planning draft, you can choose whether end users see the neighborhood colors.

1. Select the overflow button [...] at the top right of the header.

2. Select Neighborhood display settings.

   

3. A window opens with 2 options:
   • Show colors: Your users see the custom neighborhood colors defined in this draft.
   • Hide colors: Your users do not see any custom neighborhood colors.

   

4. Select one of the options and select Save.

Note: Neighborhoods that Robin created automatically from existing Work Areas have their colors turned off by default. This keeps the experience consistent for end users. In new drafts without migrated Work Areas, colors are on by default. You can turn the colors on or off in a draft, then publish the changes. Turn them on if you want end users to see the colors.

Publish neighborhoods

When you finish all changes in a draft with new or edited neighborhoods, publish the changes to the live map.

1. Select the Review & publish button at the top right of the draft. The Review & publish window opens.

   

2. Review all changes to desk type, seating assignments, and neighborhoods.
3. If everything is correct, publish the draft to the live map.

End users who use the map can then see the neighborhoods.

What end users see

End users can use neighborhoods on the map to find and book a desk near their team.

• Color-coded labels show where different teams sit on the floor plan.
• Hovering over a neighborhood label highlights all the desks in that neighborhood.
• Selecting a neighborhood label zooms the map in on the desks in that neighborhood.
• Each neighborhood shows its own color, so users can see which desks belong to it.
• Users can select an available desk in the neighborhood to book it.