Post-Occupancy Evaluation of a University Shopping Mall Facility

Abstract

Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is a performance assessment methodology, which can be applied to determine the level of user satisfaction with any given facility. Since university shopping malls could have an impact on the students' academic experience and well-being, it is of paramount significance that university shopping mall facilities are designed and operated to the highest standards. The Extensive literature review highlighted the lack of POE studies for assessing the quality of shopping mall facilities. This study aims at addressing this gap, by presenting the findings of an investigative POE of a university shopping mall facility. The Literature review was conducted pertaining to the technical and functional performance requirements of shopping malls. Twenty-nine performance indicators were identified for shopping mall facilities. These were grouped under five categories, namely building performance, safety and security, proximity and accessibility, space planning and layout, and mall services. A questionnaire survey was developed based on the identified performance indicators. The survey was administered to obtain the students' feedback on the university shopping mall facility. In addition, a walkthrough tour of the mall facility was performed to identify issues, which can be immediately recognized. Finally, a plan of action was developed to improve the performance of the shopping mall facility. The study is beneficial to planners, architects and facilities managers of such facilities.

Post-Occupancy Evaluation’s (POE) Applications for Improving Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ)

“…The authors of [ 36 ] used the POE to determine the level of user satisfaction with university shopping mall facilities by evaluating the satisfaction of the occupants with respect to the following five categories of factors: building performance, safety, proximity and accessibility, planning and layout of space, and mall services. Furthermore, in the school environment, Ahmed et al (2021) [ 14 ] assessed several school renovation projects in the UK, noting the need for greater control of the internal environment, thus contradicting the current trend towards automated “intelligent systems” approaches.…”

A post-occupancy evaluation of in-house facilities management service quality and user satisfaction in multi-tenanted office buildings in Ghana

“…The investigative approach to POE entails more detailed analysis where walk-throughs, interviews and questionnaires are used across a number of buildings that are similar in type and use. This approach was used by Ahmed and Hassanain (2020) to do a POE of student satisfaction with a university mall facility in Eastern Saudi Arabia. In diagnostic POE, the analysis is more rigorous in methodology and presents a macro-level analysis of a wide range of comparable building types and explores a variety of technological and anthropological areas of research (Preiser et al, 2015;Hadjri and Crozier, 2009).…”

“…The questionnaire used a 4-point Likert scale (1 = very dissatisfied, 2 = dissatisfied, 3 = satisfied F 41,13/14 and 4 = very satisfied). This choice of scale has been used in previous POE studies that sought to measure satisfaction (Hassanain et al, 2018;Ahmed and Hassanain, 2020). To ensure that the questionnaire was relevant, it was reviewed by five in-house facility managers who manage some of the buildings in the study and after their review, a final questionnaire was developed.…”

“…Existing literature suggests that the satisfaction of users with the quality of FM services is a function of their past experience with using such services and is driven by equity and regret (Ikediashi et al , 2015; Kim et al , 2018). Evidence from some scholarly works on the measurement of user satisfaction shows that the assessment of satisfaction is usually obtained formally via feedback on FM service quality using post-occupancy evaluation (POE) techniques (Musasa and Tlapana, 2023; Myeda et al , 2023; Abisuga et al , 2020; Ahmed and Hassanain, 2020; Hassanain et al , 2019; Sanni-Anibire and Hassanain, 2016) or informally via means such as phone calls, emails, memos and reports (Abisuga et al , 2020; Dalton et al , 2013; Goins and Moezzi, 2013). According to Ikediashi et al (2015), Lepkova and Žūkaitė-Jefimovienė (2012) and Suki (2012), satisfaction with FM in buildings is directly related to user satisfaction with the services of an organisation.…”

“…Several studies have measured satisfaction with FM services in buildings but most of these either focused on retail properties (Ahmed and Hassanain, 2020; Moreira et al , 2015; Marsha, 2015 Tannor et al , 2021) and or outsourcing as an FM strategy (Amos and Gadzekpo, 2016; Ikediashi et al , 2015; Tannor et al , 2021). These studies have largely shown that outsourcing as an FM approach yielded high levels of satisfaction but did not touch on the in-house approach.…”