Wistia is a video analytics company that recognized the growth potential of online video early on. As the company grew from 10 employees to over 20, it moved into a large 14,000 square foot office space to accommodate further growth. However, the new space felt overwhelmingly large initially. Herman Miller helped Wistia design a flexible workspace using their Metaform Portfolio system. The lightweight, modular blocks allowed employees to easily configure spaces for focus, collaboration, and relaxation. This supported Wistia's migratory work style and helped create a productive yet relaxed environment where employees could be comfortable and customized spaces for different needs. The Metaform system also took away fears about accommodating future growth and change.
1. 1Wistia
Case Study
Having an always-evolving culture prepared Wistia for
just about anything—including an office environment that
changes daily.
In 2006, online video was in its early stages. YouTube was only
a year old, and Vine wouldn’t debut for another seven years, but
Chris Savage and Brandon Schwartz—both Brown University
students at the time—recognized the growth potential of the
medium and saw an opportunity to enter an industry where
the rules were still being written. Having no previous business
experience, Savage and Schwartz ventured into the world of
marketing, data, and video analytics with nothing more than an
idea and a name—Wistia.
As online video started to grab more eyeballs, Wistia went into
fast forward and quickly outgrew its first space (a 10-person
house) and eventually outgrew two more. Unsure of what the
Wistia
Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
2. 2Wistia
Case Study
company would become—but optimistic about its future—
Savage and Schwartz decided to look for a much larger space to
handle their growth.
“At the time we were only 20 people moving into 14,000 square
feet, which felt overwhelmingly large,” Savage said. “But we were
also aggressively growing and knew we needed a lot of open
space and flexibility for that growth.”
The space gave Wistia plenty of room for cultural expression—
something that Savage believes sets the company apart. As he
put it, “It’s is kind of our unfair competitive advantage.” You see
that culture in a variety of ways—from the disco balls on the
ceiling to Lenny, the office dog, to eye-grabbing posters, pillows,
toys, to a large mural reading “Stay Weird.”
Then, there’s Wistia’s migrating style of work. On a typical day,
employees roam from one work area to the next—from a desk,
to a couch, to a kitchen table, back to the couch, and so on—as
they go to settings that support their work. Savage and Schwartz
wanted to encourage this flexible approach to work, but their
existing furniture wasn’t ideal for supporting it.
What Wistia needed was a solution that synched up with its
uninhibited style of working. That’s when Joe Ringenberg, Design
Lead at Wistia, took on the challenge of reorganizing the space—
with help from Herman Miller.
The character of Wistia’s Cambridge offices and the ever-
changing needs of its digital workforce made Wistia an ideal beta
site for field testing Metaform Portfolio™, a system of lightweight,
foundational blocks a team can put together, take apart, and
rearrange to suit their needs.
Metaform was designed for an always-active culture like Wistia’s—
where change is a constant and people aren’t afraid to hack an
environment to allow it to better support their work. According to
Ringenberg, that’s where Metaform blocks excelled. “They’re so
light and tremendously easy to move,” he said. But mobility was
only part of the equation.
Wistia’s always-
active culture makes
spontaneous interactions
between colleagues a
common occurrence.
3. 3Wistia
Case Study
Wistians, as employees are affectionately known, became more
acquainted with Metaform, and their creativity took off. This
was evident in both group and individual settings. Laura Powell,
Operations Specialist at Wistia, explained how the company
made Metaform their own: “The way we’ve seen (Metaform) be
most useful is to create a bunch of different settings and then
just let people flow freely in and out,” she said.
Ringenberg added, "Metaform empowers the people in the space
to take control of it, to feel ownership over a set of modular parts
that we can continue to rearrange according to our needs."
As for the vastness of Wistia’s space? According to Powell,
Metaform helped solve many of those challenges, too. “There’s
plenty of work that needs to get done that a totally open office
doesn’t always support,” Powell said. “So being able to create
spots that feel separated from the office but not so isolated that
they create an unnatural degree of separation—that’s been a
great use of Metaform for us.”
When it comes to work, there are no rigid guidelines or rules at
Wistia. Since Metaform can change, reconfigure, and move with
ease, it fit right in with the team’s migrating dynamic. “We don’t
want to prescribe one way which the office should work,” said
Powell. “We want to create an environment where no matter what
your background or working habits are, you’ll find a way to be
Metaform Portfolio allowed Wisita to create an environment that limited
distraction while keeping employees from feeling isolated.
comfortable and productive and feel at home and relaxed in
that space.”
Going forward, Wistia knows that change will be a constant
theme, and that being open and ready for that change will be
critical. “As we grow, as we change, we’re absolutely going to
have different requirements of (Metaform),” said Ringenberg.
“Feeling empowered to change it quickly and trust that it can
serve our needs takes a lot of the fear out of that growth.”
Moving into a 14,000-square-foot space in Cambridge gave Wistia plenty of
room to express the company's unique culture.
