Designing Office Furnishings for Place

With NeoCon finishing up in Chicago this week (and attendees crowding me out of my Starbucks with their super-tight pants), I am reminded of a terrific talk I attended at last year’s Midwest UX in Grand Rapids.

It was a panel introduced by Mutually Human’s Samuel Bowles, moderated by Christina Wodtke and featuring Chris Hoyt from Herman Miller, Jeff Reuschel from Haworth and Ritu Bajaj from Steelcase. Each design lead brought their favorite chair to sit in for 45 minutes or so and discussed the meaning of “place” in their design efforts. Coincidentally, the theme of NeoCon 2014 was Place Matters.

Samuel Bowles introducing Christina Wodtke, Jeff Reuschel, Chris Hoyt & Ritu Bajaj.

(I believe that this was the first time representatives from Haworth, Steelcase and Herman Miller had sat down together publicly. Kudos to Samuel, Grant Carmichael and Laurel Stanley for making it happen. Check out the next MWUX conference in Indianapolis this October for like-minded events.)

Even though “sitting is the new smoking” and “failing fast in context” were common refrains, “space” was the primary topic of discussion and all participants had interesting contributions to the conference theme:

“How can we create informality so people in London can feel like they’re right there? Procreation of content happens ins small sizes, in intimate spaces. (As designers) What tools can we give them to influence these interactions?” Ritu Bajaj, Senior Design Researcher, Steelcase

“We embed memories into our workspaces and the trend towards hoteling (i.e., employees grabbing whatever space is available in an office or reserving special use space like conference rooms when needed) is troubling.”  Jeff Reuschel, Global Design Director, Haworth

“How do you mix digital and analog tools in a workspace? Analog works really well and really effectively. How do we make it collaborative?” Chris Hoyt, Design Exploration Program Specialist, Herman Miller

“Power lies in the application where contact and user come together. There is a palette of places. A palette of postures. There is the power of personal choice and control to consider. Micro-environments can help improve productivity.” Ritu Bajaj, Senior Design Researcher, Steelcase

And as far as those favorite chairs? Haworth and Herman Miller tied for audience favorites:

Shetland Rocking Stool

Eames Molded Plywood Chair