Humanscale: Turning Events into Experiences
In this interview, Design Insider speaks with Anand Gandesha, Humanscale’s Brand Director International about the role exhibitions and industry events play in communicating the brand’s values to architects, designers, specifiers and end users. Reflecting on Humanscale’s recent Clerkenwell Design Week 2026 programme, the conversation explores how physical interaction can reveal the performance and simplicity of a product, why direct access to the people shaping design decisions creates more meaningful dialogue, and how sustainability can be made tangible for commercial interiors audiences.
From immersive showroom experiences and expert-led design sessions to product demonstrations and informal networking, the interview considers how Humanscale uses events to share research, encourage conversation and bring its philosophy of achieving more with less to life.
To begin, please could you introduce yourself, your role at Humanscale, and how your work connects with the brand’s presence at international design exhibitions and industry events?
I’m Brand Director International at Humanscale, the global leader in human-centred furniture design and manufacturing for well-being. Humanscale has pioneered ergonomics for more than 40 years, developing products that support healthier, more comfortable ways of working, and a key part of my role is ensuring we effectively communicate the thinking, research and innovation behind our solutions.
International design exhibitions and industry events are invaluable in this regard, providing opportunities to engage directly with our target audiences and customers including architects, designers, specifiers and end users, and to communicate in person how our products deliver a better experience for people and a more sustainable future for the planet.
Humanscale has a strong global reputation for ergonomic, human-centred workplace design. How important are exhibitions and industry events in helping you communicate the values, research and design thinking behind the brand?
Exhibitions and industry events are critically important for Humanscale because they provide an opportunity to showcase our solutions in a hands-on environment and engage directly with customers, partners and the wider design community. Alongside our owned showrooms around the world, these platforms allow us to tell the Humanscale story in a meaningful way, demonstrating how our products are designed to improve health, comfort and performance while supporting sustainability goals. They enable visitors to experience the quality, functionality and intuitive nature of our solutions first-hand, reinforcing why choosing Humanscale is better for both people and the planet. These interactions also create valuable dialogue that helps inform future innovation and product development.
Your recent Design Insider interview explored what awards mean to Humanscale, particularly in relation to long-term thinking, sustainability, usability and design performance. In what ways do exhibitions offer a different kind of platform for bringing those same ideas to life in front of customers, designers and specifiers?
Awards provide valuable recognition of the thinking, innovation and performance behind our products, but exhibitions allow us to bring those qualities to life in a much more tangible, interactive and engaging way. They create opportunities for customers, designers and specifiers to experience our solutions first-hand, understand the research that informs our design decisions and see how our products perform in real-world settings. Exhibitions also enable deeper conversations around ergonomics, sustainability and workplace wellbeing, helping us demonstrate that good design is about more than aesthetics.
At Clerkenwell Design Week 2026, Humanscale created an immersive showroom programme focused on ergonomics, movement and material intelligence. What did you want visitors to understand or experience as they moved through the space?
At Clerkenwell Design Week 2026, we wanted visitors to experience how Humanscale’s philosophy of achieving more with less is applied across a range of workplace settings. The showroom featured displays showcasing the modern workplace, including workstations, collaboration areas and meeting spaces, each designed to demonstrate how innovation, functionality, simplicity and sustainability come together to support healthier, more active ways of working.
As visitors moved through the space, they were encouraged to interact with our solutions and experience firsthand the role ergonomics, movement and material intelligence play in enhancing comfort, wellbeing and performance. Whether supporting focused individual work, collaborative teamwork or productive meetings, each setting showcased the thoughtful design principles behind our products. We also highlighted the careful consideration given to materials, engineering and manufacturing to create solutions that deliver a positive impact for both people and the planet.
The Clerkenwell programme included informal drop-in design sessions with Sergio Silva, Vice President of Design and Innovation, and Mark Consolla, Vice President of Product Management. Why was it important to give visitors direct access to the people shaping Humanscale’s products and design philosophy?
Our Humanscale Design Sessions were hugely successful because they gave small groups of visitors direct access to Sergio Silva and Mark Consolla, creating opportunities for authentic and meaningful conversations about the thinking behind our products. Humanscale’s approach is rooted in research, innovation and a commitment to solving real human challenges through design, and there is no better way to communicate that than through the people leading those efforts.
These informal sessions allowed visitors to ask questions, exchange ideas and gain deeper insight into our design philosophy, including our belief that good design achieves more with less. They also provided a valuable platform to discuss our latest innovations, including Diffrient Lounge, eFloat Quattro Studio and M/Class – our next generation of Monitor Arms, exploring how ergonomics, sustainability, simplicity and performance are integrated into every stage of product development. Ultimately, the sessions reinforced the collaborative nature of innovation and demonstrated how customer insights help shape the solutions we create.
Product demonstrations played an important role in the showroom experience, particularly across award-winning solutions such as Diffrient Lounge, eFloat Quattro Studio and the M/Class monitor arm collection. What does physical interaction with a product reveal that can be difficult to communicate through specification, imagery or written information alone?
Physical interaction allows people to experience the qualities that define a Humanscale product in a way that specifications, imagery and written descriptions simply cannot. Features such as ease of use, intuitive movement, comfort and craftsmanship are best understood through first-hand experience.
Whether it’s the refined craftsmanship and advanced engineering of Diffrient Lounge, whose innovative recline mechanism enables users to fine-tune their posture with exceptional precision and control, the flexibility and collaboration supported by eFloat Quattro Studio, or the effortless functionality of the M/Connect monitor arm collection, interacting with a product helps visitors appreciate the research, engineering expertise and human-centred thinking behind its design.
These experiences also reinforce Humanscale’s philosophy that good design achieves more with less. By experiencing our products firsthand, visitors can see how simplicity, functionality and performance work together seamlessly to create intuitive solutions that enhance comfort, wellbeing and productivity.
Sustainability is central to Humanscale’s identity as a certified B Corporation and through its planet positive manufacturing approach. How do exhibitions help you communicate environmental responsibility in a way that feels tangible, credible and relevant to commercial interiors audiences?
Exhibitions provide a powerful platform to make sustainability tangible by moving beyond claims and allowing visitors to engage directly with the products, materials and thinking behind our approach. As a certified B Corporation, sustainability is embedded in every aspect of our business, and our recent certification represents a significant milestone in our journey towards planet positive.
These events enable us to demonstrate how our sustainable manufacturing approach creates a measurable positive impact through renewable energy, circular water use and zero-waste manufacturing and Handprinting projects. They also provide an opportunity to showcase achievements such as being the first manufacturer in any industry to achieve the entire Living Product Challenge. For commercial interiors audiences, this brings credibility and relevance to our sustainability story, showing how more than 55% of our products by revenue are climate, water and energy positive—allowing customers to make a positive impact simply by choosing Humanscale.
The CDW programme balanced product insight, expert-led discussion, hospitality and social connection, including the Downtown Sports Social. How do you approach creating event experiences that are informative, memorable and genuinely useful for visitors?
Our approach is to create experiences that deliver genuine value while reflecting the Humanscale brand and philosophy. Product demonstrations and expert-led discussions are important because they provide visitors with practical insights into workplace design, ergonomics and sustainability. However, some of the most meaningful conversations often happen in more informal settings.
By combining educational content with hospitality and networking opportunities, such as the Downtown Sports Social, we create an environment where people can connect, exchange ideas and build relationships in a more relaxed way. The goal is for visitors to leave not only with a better understanding of our products and design thinking, but also with new perspectives, valuable connections and an experience that is both memorable and worthwhile.
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