Concept Bank 02: Concept Bank is a series where we share the design stories of unseen ideas with our community.
Product ideation begins with a scenario, and within it its pain points. Then whether it’s the everyday inconvenience of dropped or tangled cables or the dilemma between practicality and design, we find ways to close the divide between the status quo and the ideal day, experience, or workflow.
For this unreleased concept, we started with the remote working experience vs office experience. Having adopted a hybrid working style for four years now, we’ve come to realize that while we enjoy the inspiration and stimulation of working remotely, there are also elements that can fall short of the dedicated office space.
In particular, we found that there’s something about having a space that’s yours that helps us to flourish. The challenge then was to find ways to marry the creativity of a dynamic work setup with the stability of an office environment.
So for every benefit of an office desk that remote working wasn't quite able to capture, our in-house design team got to work to find a fix. And then combined them all.
Frustration #1: the lack of your own space
An on-the-go workspace can feel uncomfortable and unfocused. Our workaround is to create a portable sense of familiarity. This concept brings you a mobile desk mat so you can have the same comfort and consistency everywhere, while still enjoying the inspiration of a fresh environment.
For added privacy and an even more defined space, it props upright to mirror in-office desk partitions, with felt linings that also act as a sound barrier against the cafe or coworking space noise.
Frustration #2: things can get messy
While fixed desks are equipped with pen holders, phone stands, paper trays, and other organizational tools, your on-the-go essentials usually end up in a scattered mess on the day’s work surface.
Featuring compartments in varying sizes, the left side of this concept replicates the easy organization of an office desk to give your essentials an intentional place. Plus, there’s a hidden document holder to keep loose sheets extra neat.
Frustration #3: it feels impersonal
The right side of the concept features a detachable mouse pad that when separated from the main body reveals a magnetic board. In lieu of the photo frames, plants, and personal items in your office that infuse a little warmth, you can stick photos, notes and whatever else that’ll keep you motivated and moving. Wherever you’re working, you can still work around elements of home.
This concept reinvents traditional office elements to give you a space that’s your own, but done in ways that adapt to the flexibility of remote work. Achieving this involved scaling these office elements down while still maintaining their key functions.
We drew inspiration from the folio for its slim, foldable, and mobile nature, resulting in an easily transportable and easy-to-set-up workspace wherever you’re working.
We also ensured the concept was as efficient as possible with dual-purpose design, aiding portability with an outer laptop pocket to eliminate the need for an additional sleeve.
After the form comes the finish, or as it's more known the CMF (color, material, finish). An essential part of product design, this is all about the way a product looks and feels. In this stage, we create mood boards for color schemes and design details to align on how we want the product experience to be.
For this concept, we brainstormed a range of neutral shades to fit varying personal styles, each with a slight pop of color. To tie everything together, we detailed the foldable workspace with a button-and-string design to keep it closed when on the move. Recognize it?
While not all our concepts come to life, they still offer ideas that we bring forward to future designs. Not only does the button-and-string feature in W.F.A Folio for iPad and W.F.A Tote Bag Pro, but the notion of a defined workspace was the basis for Desk Mat, and the idea of desk organization was incorporated into Desk Laptop Stand. And the aspiration to work from anywhere? We have our entire Work From Anywhere range to show for it.
Whether design, theme, or function, unreleased concepts are never wasted. Rather, they’re creative foundation blocks for products that you ultimately use in your everyday. This concept focused on redefining your remote space, and while it’s still unreleased its ideas are present in many of our released designs.
