Furniture with a Human-Centered Approach

Herman Miller is a long-time leader in the office and residential furniture space - credited with being influential in the modernist aesthetic movement and creator of icons such as the Eames lounge chair and Aeron office chair. HMI builds furniture for people to experience physically, both for today and well into the future. The office furniture industry, as a whole, is traditional and physical product-focused, however they are building products for an increasingly connected world. Users of furniture have been trained to expect data and insight when they interact with physical products at home, leaving the question - why not at work? Meanwhile, those tasked with managing physical assets within a building - facility managers - are also under more pressure than ever to demonstrate value and return on product investment. Facility managers want to know not only what they have - but how is what they have being used. These factors created the perfect storm of need and desire for Herman Miller to invest in the creation of a smart line of products - starting with a desk. The task was to create something that provides value to the end user - the "consumer" - as well as help facility managers articulate how their investment is being utilized. Universal Mind partnered with Herman Miller with the lofty goal of building ascetic experience for both user types - that provides value without being "noise" in already connected ecosystem. The most tactical project was building the app - both native iOS and Android - from concept to deployment based on Herman Miller's ergonomic expertise and product wisdom as well as what users would find valuable. Integrating HMI's vast understanding of work styles and targeting activity levels - we were able to deliver an experience that guides users to a better balance between sitting and standing throughout a day. Additionally, Universal Mind helped craft the vision for helping facility managers consume data in a meaningful way. Dashboards help a FM to grasp what's going on with the investment - both at a utilization level, as well as understanding the wellness that users are experiencing.