Herman Miller Launches New Redesigned Website

May 24, 2021  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

Using more than 110 hours of customer research, in-depth feedback, and user testing from over 200 different participants, the site delivers a consistent experience that implements key changes built specifically to make a customer's journey smooth and easy. The refresh also features additional content that answers common customer questions – all key requests from those surveyed.

"Our new physical Herman Miller Seating stores have proven to be extremely popular with customers around the world," says Ben Groom, chief digital officer at Herman Miller. "They address a critical need in our society right now: how best to improve our Work from Home set-ups and prepare for a more hybrid working future. For customers unable to experience these stores in person, our new site takes the physical experience and brings it into your home virtually. Building upon our live chat capabilities, our Performance Seating Specialists can video chat with customers to demonstrate products face-to-face and help them decide which products are right for them, providing a fully robust online shopping experience."

In addition to the chat feature, the site boasts a fresh new design, and enhanced storytelling content for products, designers, and the brand. It also features powerful AI driven product recommendations and a new customer-centric website navigation, providing easier access to popular categories like gaming. Heightened browsing capabilities have expanded filtering capabilities to provide frictionless shopping experiences and a new "Shop the Room" feature allows shoppers to be inspired by photography and purchase their own versions with the click of a button. With a design that has been optimized to harmoniously transition from desktop to mobile, every customer, no matter where, when, or how they are shopping, will have the same quality of experience start to finish. 

The redesign comes not long after another member of the Herman Miller Group,  Design Within Reach (DWR), underwent extensive renovation. "Last year, we focused on redesigning dwr.com, a project that ended up becoming an award-winning design," says Shannon Zonca, director of eCommerce at Herman Miller. "After gathering learnings from that initiative and watching our eCommerce business continue to grow, we turned our attention to Herman Miller's retail site, confident we could create an equally satisfying and successful transformation. Though our various brands are each unique, they all should equally deliver the same caliber of experience digitally."

"Digital spaces are never truly finished," says Groom. "Customer needs, expectations, and desires for eCommerce sites are always changing and adapting—therefore so should we. A site or digital tool left unattended for too long risks becoming irrelevant, outdated, or even irritating to visitors. We are extremely excited to share our latest digital redesign with Herman Miller customers."

After the site launches, customers can expect a continuing release of additional features and enhancements throughout the year.