###### Abstract  
Over the past few years there has been a significant change in fire safety design and management. As the possibility of safe escape is the most crucial aspect of a building's fire safety features, the understanding of human behaviour under fire conditions is important for a successful evacuation. Previous research studies have developed models, prototypes, and serious games that help engineers/architects to design or firefighters to improve design so that the building facilitates a smooth evacuation process. Although these studies have looked into human behaviour, perceptions of important stakeholders (such as occupants, structural engineers, fire engineers, facility managers) are still not understood. These perceptions are important for the appropriate application of technology for evacuation. The broader research effort, of which this paper is part, stems from the premise that bespoke evacuation instructions can be sent directly to evacuees' smartphones. Information from a BIM model with the aid of sensors can be used to customise these evacuation instructions. The prospect of information being delivered to occupants during a fire emergency is still at its premature phase and more research is needed. Twenty-three interviews were conducted with occupants who currently live in high-rise residential buildings in Egypt and the United Kingdom to understand their views of using smartphones to assist during fire evacuations. The sampling strategy targeted occupants who currently live in high-rise residential buildings but have not necessarily experienced a fire evacuation. The research clearly shows the importance of smartphones during evacuation and the role they can play in assisting occupants to find the fastest and safest egress route. The interview findings will assist in future research to develop an evacuation framework system that could be implemented for high-rise residential buildings. f 202  
significant potential for increasing injuries or fatalities during fire emergency evacuations. A large number of occupants might not be able to evacuate the building due to chaos and crowdedness at exit routes. As occupants tend to evacuate the building through stairwells, there is a risk that impaired mobility would hinder successful evacuation. This could therefore cause a state of panic among occupants and consequently hamper firefighting and rescue operations. In addition, vertical shafts in high-rise buildings, such as a stairwells or elevator shafts, allow the spread of smoke [2]. Despite having exit signs in almost all buildings, previous research [3; 4] shows that occupants will tend to evacuate the building through a familiar route or will use the same route by which they entered the building. This is suboptimal for fire evacuation, leading to increased evacuation times and occupants' prolonged exposure to fire emergency conditions. Previous research [4] also reports that wayfinding depends on the geometry (layout) of buildings and seems to be largely unaffected by escape route signs [4]. Besides familiarity with the building, the choice of a suitable exit depends on a number of factors such as the availability of exits and layout complexity. In addition, it is important for occupants to react quickly, preferably within the first three or four minutes [5]. Moreover, occupants tend to assume that the exit sign with the pictogram of a running man is all that is important for a successful evacuation. This can be the case for simple structures, but for high-rise residential buildings or complex structures, the exit signs will not be enough as they often do not give enough direction to the safest and shortest path. It is important to clearly understand the definition of wayfinding and what factors might affect occupants in choosing certain egress routes.