What to Consider When Creating Optometry Office Floor Plans

When you are setting up a new optometric office, the right floor plan makes a big difference in the customer experience. A good office design is visually appealing and functional. It allows for optimal through-put and for customers to easily navigate your space. It also gives your staff an ergonomic, safe and comfortable place to do their jobs well. Here are some tips on how you can create an office design that maximizes patient flow without sacrificing style or comfort.

Choose a Color Scheme

Neutrals are safe, but playing it too safe can result in a lack of character and excitement in your practice or retail location. If your entire space is painted, carpeted and upholstered in neutral colors, it could make a customer or patient feel bored and disinterested. Do not be afraid to add color to your optometry office. For the retail space, consider using a vivid or bold color to accent at least one of the walls. Some good choices include royal blue, sky blue, golden yellow and tangerine. Use splashes of the same color in your upholstered fabric and work surfaces. Consider choosing a patterned flooring material that includes your main color. This ties your space together, creating a coordinated and planned look that appeals to a person’s aesthetic sense.

Create a Comfortable Seating Area

You should have enough seats so that your patients and their family members can sit while waiting for their appointments. If possible, the seating area should not be immediately next to the front door. There will be too much airflow and activity in that area for comfort and this is a great place to showcase frames. A seating area near windows is a good choice. You could also consider a seating area in the center of your floor plan, which is a smart decision if you use the perimeter walls to display frames. You may want to have one or two dispensing tables on one side of the main space and the seating area on the other side.

Make a Reception Area

In addition to having a place for customers to sit, you need a nice reception area. This could include materials about your products and services. It could also include information about vision and eye health. No reception area is complete without a front desk where customers check-in, make payments and pick up their eyeglasses and contacts. Feel free to include magazines as well, such as style guides on the latest frames that you have to offer. And keep in mind that reception area does not necessarily mean reception desk. Many practices are now using café tables or Communal Tables for a more casual, face-to-face approach.

Create Eyewear Stations

Your optometry office’s floor plan should include separate areas for different types of eyewear. For example, if you are displaying you frames by gender, you may want an area for high-end women’s eyeglasses, standard women’s eyeglasses, high-end men’s eyeglasses, standard men’s eyeglasses and children’s eyeglasses. You may also want a separate area for accessories, such as lens cleaning spray and cloths, eyeglasses cases, clip-on sunglasses lenses and more. Be sure to have another area set up specifically for contact lens dispensing and other product options.

Allow Enough Room for Everyone

Make sure you have enough room so  patients can try on frames and look at themselves in mirrors. Try to allow enough space so anyone at a dispensing table is not disturbed by shoppers. You would not want your dispensing activities to be interrupted by a person who is trying to  select their favorite frames, or someone missing the optimal pair because they couldn’t reach them easily.

Fully Supplied Dispensing Stations

At the dispensing stations, the tables should have everything the optician needs in order to attend to the customer. This includes devices for measuring pupils and a place to keep a keyboard, tablet or another electronic device for entering information and placing the order. Printed information should be available, including business cards  to give to the patient along with their receipt, a and other essential information.

Design Exam Rooms and Dispensing Stations with Patients in Mind

Make sure each exam room has enough room to accommodate all of the necessary equipment. Having the same or similar layouts will ensure you always know where needed supplies are. There should also be a place for the patient to put their purse or bag and coat. Make sure there is an area where a parent or other person accompanying the patient can sit The patient should feel at ease in the exam space and having literature and some frame selections in the room can be beneficial to occupy their waiting time.

Avoid Bottlenecks

People do not like to wait. One way you can avoid bottlenecks that cause excessive patient waits is to have multiple check in and check out stations.. For example, have two or more places where patients can check in or pay. Consider foot traffic patterns and how people will move throughout your space. Keep a transition area between the exam rooms and the optical displays and dispensing areas. Always be sure to use the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines for space requirements.

When designing your own retail optometry space, there are more than enough factors to consider throughout the process. Eye Designs is here to help you plan, design, and furnish your practice or optical space for quality customer service and maximum use of your space. Contact us today to get started.