ARKA Makes Space Planning Visual: Faster Decisions & Easier Wayfinding

Challenge: Limited Visibility and Flexibility

While most of ARKA’s team at their Aurora and King of Prussia facilities works on site with dedicated seating, some are hybrid and rely on desk hoteling to secure a place to work for the day. With variable schedules and different space types across the office, ARKA’s Director of Operations for their ACMA organization, Brian Willette, knows traditional tools make space planning harder than it needs to be.

“Using spreadsheets is not visually intuitive for figuring out your density or where you have capacity – especially in a big facility.” – Brian Willette

In a flexible work setup, Brian knows visibility into team distribution and capacity is non-negotiable. Without it, planning becomes reactive, decisions slow down, and the workplace experience gets frustrating fast.

ARKA also wanted to improve wayfinding for both hybrid and on-site staff. Static seating charts (like PDFs) might be readable, but they are often outdated and awkward to maintain. That made it harder for employees to quickly locate an open seat or find teammates across the office.

Solution: Self-Service Bookings & Intuitive Assignments

With Skedda, ARKA rolled out an intuitive, digital system to manage workspace visibility and bookings in one place. An interactive map of the office shows assigned desks alongside bookable spaces, securely accessible to employees across the organization from any device. With self-service in place, it’s easy for staff to find teammates, see what’s available, and reserve a workstation when they need one.

Just as importantly, Skedda makes space planning more collaborative and efficient for ARKA’s facilities team. The visual, interactive map layout supports clearer conversations around capacity, growth, and potential suite reconfigurations, helping stakeholders align faster and make smarter space decisions.

 “A picture’s worth a thousand words… it’s super useful for visualizing the space we have.” – Brian Willette

Results

A visual way to walk leadership through space planning

When ARKA needs to forecast headcount and plan for growth, Skedda becomes a shared visual reference point; this is especially useful for leadership discussions tied to resourcing and future needs. Brian notes that visualization helps connect the dots between facility work and where people sit, making it easier to align stakeholders and move projects forward.

“I’ll share my screen with our map in Skedda up and we’ll talk through different things we can do from a layout standpoint.” – Brian Willette

Better visibility through a “single pane of glass” 

Skedda gives ARKA a centralized, real-time view of space and availability, reducing guesswork across the office. That same visibility also improves day-to-day collaboration by making it easy for employees to locate on-site teammates and see where people sit. With a visual map employees can trust, teams navigate the workplace faster without relying on outdated printouts or tribal knowledge.

“Everybody can go to a single pane of glass and see what’s available.”  – Brian Willette

Intuitive design for less reliance on IT

At an engineering-led company like ARKA, autonomy matters. Skedda supports that self-sufficiency through its booking system. Even though only a subset of ARKA’s workforce uses desk hoteling regularly, adoption is strong because the experience is straightforward. 

"One of the big things that makes [engineers] productive is their ability to figure things out on their own … so they appreciate the ease of use of Skedda.”  – Brian Willette

Skedda’s self-service empowers ARKA teams to find success without having to open tickets with IT, reducing friction and improving operations.

Conclusion: Clearer Planning, More Agency

For ARKA, Skedda isn’t just a booking tool. It’s a shared visual layer that supports seat assignment clarity, faster space-planning conversations with leadership, and a more self-sufficient employee experience. With intuitive desk booking for hybrid employees and a clear seating chart layout, teams spend less time coordinating and more time doing actual work.

Ready to modernize your workplace?

Book a demo to see how Skedda can bring visual clarity, self-service booking, and better space planning to your organization.