iPad App for Herman Miller

Case Study

Education Solutions iPad App for Herman Miller

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Brand new technology. Huge industry trade show.

Project Overview

In the spring of 2010 we worked with Herman Miller on an application for NeoCon, the premier tradeshow in the commercial furniture industry. Herman Miller wanted to create an app for the newly-released iPad, a device harmonious with the level of innovation and design quality intrinsic to Herman Miller’s brand.

Atomic was tasked with developing an iPad app for the iconic modern furniture company to use at one of their biggest tradeshows. Working against a tight timeline and a fixed deadline, and on a platform only several weeks old at the time, Atomic delivered a beautiful application that integrated a wide variety of different media and marketing collateral.

Challenge

Herman Miller wanted to utilize the newly-released iPad to enhance their customers’ NeoCon showroom experience. Specifically, they envisioned an app that could comprehensively showcase their Education Solutions products. Toward this end, the app needed to house an assortment of resources, including videos, presentations, case studies, product information and a floor plan of their showroom.

Designing an Experience

Herman Miller came to us for help with building the application, but we ended up playing a more robust role in its design. Herman Miller was impressed with our ability to integrate user-centered design principles into the development of the application. In our discovery session we developed different workflows for possible customer scenarios, helping them design 5, 20 and 60 minute client interactions with the application. We created a navigation architecture that allowed a sales person the flexibility to respond to any of those categories and delve to various levels of depth and breadth depending on the interaction.

Atomic also created the visual design of the application. We were able to understand their brand and deliver an interface that was consistent with the design and engineering innovation for which Herman Miller is known. On the main presentation, we did not stick simply with a linear slide presentation, but took advantage of the iPad platform to create an interactive user experience.