Design With Impact

Everyone talks about how work is changing. Let’s talk about what to do about it. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to redefine the workplace. Our approach addresses the human needs of employees to improve their wellbeing, foster a sense of community and connection, and help organizations navigate, prepare and design for change.

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The rise of relationship-based work

Rather than creating a series of spaces that are tailored to certain work activities, a relationship-based work model asks us to consider who needs to be supported and the nature of their interactions. This includes everything from interactions that prioritize production, helping move specific work forward, to interactions that prioritize information exchange or personal reflection, helping build culture and a sense of belonging.

This session will introduce a new, flexible planning concept to support this range of interactions for individuals, groups, and broader communities at work.​

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Leading Modernism: The Designers who Forwarded the Movement

In this webinar we look at modernism’s roots in the Bauhaus; the relationships of major mid-century designers, including Marcel Breuer, Harry Bertoia, Mies van der Rohe, Gilbert Rohde, Eliel and Eero Saarinen, Florence Knoll, Ray and Charles Eames, George Nelson, Alexander Girard; the influence these designers had on two companies at the centre of modernism; and the role the companies and designers played in shaping America’s tastes in design.

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Hospitality in Design: More than just Food and Drink 

Far too often, hospitality can devolve into generic solutions focused on amenities, services, and interior design. In this session, we will review the definitions and theory of hospitality across history and a range of disciplines, and delve into several organizing domains by which we might begin to ideate:

•  Social/cultural, by which hospitality facilitates relationships.

•  Private/domestic, setting the benchmark by which commercial hospitality is often judged

•  Commercial, questioning the authenticity of hospitality.

In linking these domains to their built environment implications, we show how hospitality has yet to be fully explored and identify opportunities for design and exploration.

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Safe Spaces: Unlocking the Power of Psychological Safety
Creating psychologically safe environments isn't just good practice - it's essential for organisational success. When employees feel secure to express ideas, acknowledge mistakes, and take calculated risks, innovation flourishes and performance soars.
In this comprehensive session, we'll delve into the science and practice of psychological safety through four key dimensions:​

• The Neuroscience Behind Psychological Safety - Discover how our brains are hardwired to detect threats and rewards in workplace environments, and why understanding these mechanisms is crucial for leaders seeking to build trust and engagement.

• Understanding Human Motivation - Explore the six fundamental human needs that drive behaviour and learn to identify your own motivational patterns. We'll examine how meeting these core needs creates the foundation for psychological safety.

• Building Your Emotional Intelligence Toolkit - Develop practical self-regulation techniques, both preventative and reactive, to manage emotional responses under pressure. Learn strategies that not only protect your own mental wellbeing but also model psychological safety for your teams.

• Designing Spaces for Connection - Examine how thoughtfully designed physical and virtual environments can nurture relationships, facilitate meaningful collaboration, and enable exceptional work to emerge.

Join us to uncover the evidence-based principles and design strategies that transform workplace culture, creating environments where people, and organisations, truly thrive.

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Hospitality in Higher Education
Higher education institutions face mounting pressure - rising mental health needs, retention challenges, and a growing disconnect on campus. Hospitality may be the missing strategy. In this talk, Bertie van Wyk explores hospitality not as amenities or aesthetics, but as an active, human-centered practice rooted in safety, welcome, and connection. Drawing on research from MillerKnoll, learn how thoughtful campus design can help people move from guest to host - and why that journey is the foundation of belonging in higher education.

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The Enticing Workplace

Has the Workplace Environment Reached its Potential? On the contrary, there’s still considerable need for enhancement and growth within these spaces. Commissioned by MillerKnoll, psychologists Dr. Nigel Oseland and Prof. Gary Raw conducted a research study aimed at comprehending the comparative desirability of office-based and home work settings. During this session, we will present the research findings, shedding light on how these insights can guide the workplace industry in creating captivating and enticing environments for all workers.

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​Reinvigorating Individual Work - (Interactive workshop or Seminar)

Herman Miller's research team sought to understand the other side of workplace design—individual work. As organisations emphasise collaboration through the design of their spaces, the needs of the individual worker are becoming under-served. Through our research into individual work – we identified five of the most common states of mind users seek to cultivate when accomplishing individual work. For each state of mind, we outlined user needs and design opportunities for satisfying those states of mind.

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Enabling Focus In the Workplace

We believe the most effective organisations, put their people first. We know successful workplace design is about balance and choice. 

This is accomplished by offering a variety of settings, which best support focus or collaborative workstyles. However, as workplace design moved

towards an increase in density and a focus on maximizing collaboration, individual work began to suffer.  Today, we’ll discuss how enabling focus work is equally as important as supporting collaboration in the workplace.

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Team Landscapes - Using design to support team working

Supporting team collaboration remains critical for leaders looking to drive optimum performance in their organisations.

Designing the best environments for group work begins with understanding the unique needs of different types of teams. The requirements of each team can (and should) be supported by bespoke combinations of sensory design elements which help to sustain energy levels and align with the tasks at hand - meaning teams are equipped to work to their best capacity!

Drawing on research conducted by Herman Miller, this seminar introduces four distinct team types and offers practical design considerations for supporting the dynamics of each.

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Herman Miller History - A Heritage of Design

By the middle of the 20th century, the name Herman Miller had become synonymous with “modern” furniture. 

Working with legendary designers the company launched products that would become classics of industrial design.

This webinar will cover Herman Miller's history and design heritage and will also highlight the strong research based

approach to support product developments .

 

Designing for Cognitive Wellness

A workplace that helps people think better drives business results. Cognition is the way we acquire knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and our senses. A workplace that takes cognition into consideration in its design, including decreasing mental load and cognitive mapping, helps us feel better. And when we feel better, we work better. Herman Miller's Insights will introduce participants to cognitive ergonomics and its implications for office design.

 

Fundamental Human Needs and The Workplace - (Interactive workshop or Seminar)

In this interactive session we share Herman Miller’s point of view and ongoing discoveries about Human Dynamics + Work – all grounded in research and first-hand experiences. We explore fundamental human needs – purpose, belonging, achievement, autonomy, status, and security – and ask ourselves how are these defined? What is their priority? What are their implications for management methods, technology and tools, and places?

 

Wellbeing and Social Ergonomics in Workplace Design

A workplace that helps us initiate and regulate social interaction, and that takes into consideration factors like personal space, physical and psychological proximity, and territoriality, helps us feel better. And when we feel better, we work better. We will explore in workshop format how social ergonomics interacts with cognitive and physical ergonomics to create a full human experience at work.

 

The Office – a Facility Based on Change

“The business of people talking to each other in offices is a very serious consideration. It is by far the most expensive achievement of offices: the grouping of people that allows conversational exchange" Robert Propst - Published in 1968, this book, written by Robert Propst revolutionised the thinking about workplace design. In this seminar we will explore the key issues raised by Robert Propst, and discuss those that are still valid more than 50 years later.

  

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For more information contact  mkinsights@millerknoll.com