What is an office heat map?

How it works

The heat map draws on occupancy data for a chosen period: bookings, check-ins, network presence or sensor counts. Each space gets a value, such as the share of days or hours it was used, and a color scale shows the range from rarely used to always full.

Filters make it useful. A weekday view shows the midweek peak and the quiet Friday; a team view shows where each group actually sits; a space-type view separates desks, rooms and focus booths. Showing booked against used on the same map reveals where bookings run ahead of real use.

A heat map is a starting point, not a verdict. A cold zone may be dark, noisy or far from the team that should use it; a hot one may be the only place with good monitors. Pair the map with a short survey or a walk-through before you move furniture or teams.

How to measure it

Pick the metric behind the colors (days used, hours used or check-ins) and keep the scale fixed when you compare periods.
Build it from check-ins or presence data, not bookings alone.
Compare weekday views before drawing conclusions from a weekly total.
Run it again after each change to see whether behavior moved.

Examples

A heat map shows window desks always full and an interior bank rarely used; better lighting and monitors bring the interior desks into use.
One neighborhood is hot every Tuesday and Wednesday; the team gets an overflow zone on those days instead of a bigger permanent area.

Common mistakes

Reading a weekly total and missing that the pattern changes by day.
Coloring by bookings, which paints ghost bookings as demand.
Changing the color scale between periods, which makes comparisons meaningless.
Removing cold desks without asking why they are cold.

How Kadence helps

Kadence Workplace Insights includes office heatmaps built from bookings and check-ins, alongside attendance, occupancy and no-show reporting. Interactive floor plans show live availability, and SpaceOps uses the same occupancy data when it plans floors.

Workplace analytics · Space management · SpaceOps

Frequently asked questions

What is an occupancy heat map?

It is a floor plan shaded by how often each space is used over a period. Warm colors mark the busiest desks, rooms and zones; cool colors mark the quietest. It turns occupancy data into a picture people can read without a spreadsheet.

What data do you need for an office heat map?

Space-level usage data: desk and room check-ins, bookings, network presence by floor or sensor counts by zone. The more precisely each signal is located, the more detailed the map. Building-level badge data alone is too coarse.

How do you use a heat map to improve an office?

Look for patterns, then ask why. Crowded areas may need more space on peak days; empty ones may lack light, equipment or a reason to be there. Change one thing, then compare the next heat map with the last.

Peak occupancy The busiest level of use a floor or building reaches in a normal week, which sets the capacity you actually need.
Workplace analytics Analysis of bookings, check-ins, attendance and occupancy data to guide decisions about office space, policy and services.
Interactive floor plan A live, clickable map of an office that shows desks, rooms and people, and lets employees book space and find colleagues.
Occupancy monitoring Continuous measurement of how many people use each building, floor, room and desk, and when, from presence signals or sensors.
Desk utilization The share of available desk-hours people actually use, measured desk by desk from check-ins or presence data.

Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed September 30, 2026