My Studio Environments lets an organization reap the benefits of a satisfied and effective work force. It fosters comfort, well-being, and productivity in personal, human-scaled offices where people control their own privacy, their connection with others, and the direction they face. This unique package of capabilities helps organizations attract and keep in-demand knowledge workers that drive growth and innovation.

MY STUDIO · a wall-based system - My Studio's steel frames are finished with painted, glass, or veneer cladding to create four walls. Each wall has a concise, prescribed set of components to optimize a worker's performance.

PERSONAL, COMFORTABLE, CONTROLLABLE - Vanishing Point. The design features curved outer corners, open inner corners, translucent materials and "floating" walls so an office feels larger. About Face. My Studio reorients workers; they can face outbound, toward the middle, or inbound, whatever feels most comfortable. Zone Logic. Each workspace zone supports a specific aspect of the knowledge work process--create, display, and organize materials, and filter interruptions. Permeable Privacy. Translucent glass shutters give people control over their privacy and level of connection with coworkers; a door helps control interruptions.

INVERTED LANDSCAPE - Nontraditional approach. The highest walls are on the outside; side walls are lower; the center "spine" wall is the lowest. Accommodates collaboration. Team members are more accessible to adjacent workers in a cluster. Intelligent Colors, Materials, Finishes. Concise, coordinated pallette. Simplifies design and ensures harmonious combinations. Architectural complement. Provided by four warm and cool neutrals and two metallics designed for outside surfaces. Furniture quality. Nature-inspired colors for the inside create richness and depth.

TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT - In-frame distribution. The center wall routes cables and four-circuit, eight-wire power. Generous capacity. A powered center wall holds 158 Category 5e 4-pair UPT cables or 122 Category 6 cables at a 60 percent fill rate. Power and data access. There are two receptacles on each side of each frame; also access at the curved outer corner.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN - Strict standards. The first office furniture system designed according to the McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol. Certified. It is certified to MBDC Cradle to Cradle Silver. My Studio is GREENGUARD certified and can contribute to LEED certification.

DESIGN STORY - When Herman Miller asked designer Douglas Ball to develop a new system that would address an organization's real estate constraints while maximizing the effectiveness of the 6' x 8' workstation, he came back with a concept that could change the landscape of systems furniture. In conceiving of My Studio, Ball went back to the early days when there were just desks, returns, and credenzas, and when a 6'x 8' space was considered generous. And he made the person the center of the workstation. "I worked out in my mind a plan as to how you would reorient a person in that space," he says. "How would you have a principle work surface, a credenza behind, and something alongside that would give a person more storage and more counter space?" He says his mind was "really into the very small, very controlled environment. The corners would be rounded. There's a circle and the person would sit in the center of it. You would just swing the chair around and everything was right there, within reach." That basic idea is the foundation of the design and development of My Studio. Ball also introduced the idea of a high aisle-side wall as opposed to what's been traditionally done with the panel environment where the center tends to be very high with overhead storage attached. "We wanted to do the opposite," Ball says. "We said we'd like to have the center low so you can see across to the other side. You can see the worker across from you, but the height of that is critical. We wanted to be able to block eye vision from a seated position, but if you lift your head, you can make eye contact. With this product, you can have collaboration and you don't have to move."

The design of My Studio was guided by a number of significant findings gathered by Herman Miller Research from various sources, including the following:
- A trend in workplace design is smaller workstations.
- Workplace design is a key ingredient in worker and organizational effectiveness.
- Organizations that want to recruit and retain top talent need to consider the benefits of furniture and workplace design for high-end knowledge workers.
- Knowledge workers need concentration, but they also need to collaborate and communicate.
- Increased stress can be the result of an inability to control privacy. Increased control reduces stress.
- Feeling good in the work environment may keep a worker performing at a high level.