Herman Miller Store
Designed for Living
Herman Miller is a global design leader in furniture known for classic pieces like the Eames Lounge Chair and the Nelson Bubble Lamps that are symbols of mid-century modern design and still in high demand today. They are also the creator of the Aeron, the icon for the modern office chair.
We designed and launched a new ecommerce store as Herman Miller’s first direct-to-consumer experience. People shopping for their home or small office could finally have a full Herman Miller experience.
A Complete Journey
We partnered with Herman Miller to design the consumer experience from start to finish—from discovering the products and their stories, to browsing and considering purchase, to ordering and delivery, all the way to caring for the item. Every touch point was an opportunity to differentiate Herman Miller by demonstrating their values and stewardship, design expertise and heritage, product quality and durability, excellent service and support.
Furniture purchase is a considered process, so the ecommerce store is designed for shoppers to get everything they would want, directly from the source, including product features and specifications, available options, photos, and warranty information. The Q&A and Customer Review areas are managed by trained Herman Miller staff experienced in design, ergonomics, and the products to provide optimal service and advice.
Stories Behind the Design
Having collaborated with legendary designers like George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, Isamu Noguchi, and Yves Behar, Herman Miller has an archive of sketches, plans, prototypes, photographs, and films. We worked with their archive librarians to uncover and share the design stories behind their most iconic pieces including the Aeron, Eames Lounge Chair, the Noguchi Table, and Nelson Platform Bench. The stories bring you behind the scenes to reveal the design intent, process, and anecdotes. We also provided the Shop by Designer area for people to find and discover products based on their favorite designers.
Visualize the Possibilities
The Herman Miller Store is designed to be a place for inspiration, where shoppers can get ideas, see how pieces work together to compose a room, and imagine how they can design the perfect space for their home. To accomplish this, we commissioned photographer Juergen Nogai, former partner of famed architectural photographer Julius Shulman, and shot Herman Miller products in architecturally significant homes.
People are more likely to purchase when they can customize the product themselves, so we designed a visual product configurator for shoppers to see all the different possibilities. To do this, we retooled the order management process to match the way people would naturally customize a piece of furniture—starting with base color and material and ending with details like casters. As users change their selections, the product image updates dynamically so they know exactly what they would be getting along with the price.
The Most Choices and Options
The Herman Miller Store is the one place where shoppers could access all the possible options for their products, from colors to fabrics to material, even down to options like glide and armpad finish. Limited-edition items like the walnut Eames Hang-It-All were exclusively available on the Herman Miller Store, which encouraged people to purchase directly and sign up for updates.
The Store not only provided Herman Miller a way to build direct relationships with consumers, sales have been on a growth trajectory since launch, exceeding goals for over three years in a row.
