AMAX Konnect
Cluttered desk, cluttered mind: Raise your hand if your desk is as organized as you would like. If you are like most, it could be better. It is widely recognized that a disorganized workspace negatively impacts productivity as we easily become distracted by clutter.
Addressing the need to get rid of the clutter, DesignThink recently partnered with AMAX to develop Konnect, an organizational system that promotes and encourages productivity through customizable units that allow users to easily access stored items.
Recognizing AMAX’s larger B2B strategy, DesignThink conducted research with both general consumers and architects and interior designers who spec furniture, lighting and accessories for new office spaces. The combined consumer and commercial insights enabled the design team to make strategic decisions for optimizing how the system works in an office environment as well as for the home or dorm room. Architects additionally influenced the design’s clean, linear look, fitting the modern office space.
Ultimately, this research revealed two primary meta-categories of organization types: those who subscribe to “A place for everything and everything in its place” and those who prefer “Controlled clutter”. When users are busy, however, their system tends to fall apart, regardless of whatever organizational style they have. Users often cited that they desired a system that enabled better organizational habits to prevent the mess from happening in the first place. The challenge was to create a system that would keep items organized, yet accessible while keeping the desk space clear, especially during a busy workday.
Focusing on changing behavior, our design team developed a solution centered around a clever modular docking rail which accepts a wide variety of organizational and power supply accessories and can neatly tuck power cords away. The modular rail can be placed near the edge of a desk or hung on the wall to take advantage of vertical space, freeing up valuable surface area while keeping your accessories within arm’s reach. Users can select any combination of organizers, lights and power supplies they desire and configure them on the rails in the location that is ideal for their work space and work habits. This versatility is an important insight that facilitates long term organization through customization.
Research helped the team understand what organization items were needed and to what frequency they were typically used. The system allows users to arrange the items that best match that frequency of use: more commonly used items are within reach and less used items are farther away.
In addition to the research conducted with consumers, once the concept was locked in, our team remained involved through development and tooling readiness. From cradle to grave, DesignThink can see a project through, ensuring the upfront idea can meet the all-important DFM (Design for Manufacturability), cost and performance criteria.
When DesignThink developed Konnect, we designed it to be more than a simple desktop organizer. We designed a method that easily facilitates effective desktop organization with flexibility in how you choose to layout the components, allowing your personal organization style to be enhanced, improving productivity.
