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A DESIGN DIALOGUE

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Design is a powerful tool.A good tool amplifies human capabilities. Design is the tool of choice here. Our built environment affects our emotions, our perceptions, our performance... our overall being. It gets in our way when done poorly, but done well, it can enable and inspire us humans to do great things. Microsoft is poised to create a strong “design-first” culture around our place-making.

What is this document?The content is presenting our Beliefs. This is to be used as a guide-post for crafting place & space with those principles in mind. Call them

beliefs, principles, goals, vision, etc. It is about capturing the personality & soul of Microsoft that gives direction to design.

Who is our audience?

This document is geared toward design professionals who craft our Microsoft places around the world. It also targets our internal & external

project Design Leads helping foster the right dialogue and rally around specific beliefs.

STAY LIMBER and adapt easily. Microsoft is not static and neither are our spaces. Learning is evolving and we are learning a tremendous amount

that contributes to an ever-evolving landscape. Flexibility is a key overlay to our Beliefs:

“Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation.” - Satya Nadella

No FADS or GIMMICKS. Our goals are lofty. We hope to avoid fads, craft inspired timeless design, and create the smartest, most beautiful, simple

solutions that are uniquely Microsoft. Simple, right? We understand this is a tall order.

To shoot for the stars, we have to change our conversation, our way of communicating and develop...

a new format. This document is a key step toward performance and aspirational design rather than prescriptive design. The previous

conversation primarily revolved around Guidelines. The new conversation adds BELIEFS and JOURNEY EXPERIENCE to the mix prior to detailed talks

around guidelines. All are important. Along with evolving the content, we will encourage our design partners to engage in more frequent

Design Dialogue worksession-style meetings rather than infrequent Design Critique and Presentation mode only. More to follow on that later.

FLEXIBLE THINKINGFLEXIBLE DESIGN CONCEPTSFLEXIBLE SPACES & PLACES

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CONTENTS

Beliefs - A macro view of Microsoft-specific guiding principles that should govern and inspire the design process.

Journey Experience - The bridge between Beliefs & Guidelines. It speaks to characteristics, activities, and desired experience for

the variety of audiences who will use our spaces. It is more specific than Beliefs but much less detailed and prescriptive than the Guidelines.

BELIEFSTHE BIG PICTURE

JOURNEY EXPERIENCE

characteristics of certain activities & spaces

GUIDELINESLOTS & LOTS & LOTS OF DETAIL ABOUT EVERY LITTLE SPACE

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Spaces are for People

Technology is Human

Simplicity, not Austerity

Brand is More

Nature is our Ally

BELIEFS

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SPAC

ES A

RE FO

R PE

OPLE Exciting, vibrant engaging environments to

enrich people’s lives

Shape places around people and their activities.

Note the little things that can inform FORM

A FULL EXPERIENCE BEGINNING TO END

Local culture context and regional infl uences

As in any city, there are public places, private

get-aways and all things in-between. The best

moments and best experiences can be the in-

between places. Allow for a little surprise and

delight in unexpected places.

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Technology is a tool, not the end game

It can be proud and dramatic to emphasize a

point, understated and ubiquitous to blend into

the background. There is room for both types of

design expression.

ENGAGE ALL THE SENSES

Celebrate technology beyond the “fl at screen.”

Not that we don’t love screens, they have been

our friends, but search beyond for additional

experiential technology engagements

“...computing will become more ubiquitous and intelligence will become ambient...”

TECH

NOLO

GY IS

HUM

AN

-Satya Nadella

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SIMPLICITY:

Easy to understand or explain, in contrast to

complicated.

COMPLEXITY YES, COMPLICATED NO

The meaning seems easy to grasp but to

achieve simplicity is, well, often not so simple.

When translating to space, it can be too easily

misinterpreted as devoid of detail or stripped of

character. Obviously, no to the latter.

Simple can be human, it can be warm, it can

have layers.

SIMPLE INVOLVES:

editing, distilling and eliminating the

extraneous

SIM

PLIC

ITY,

NOT A

USTE

RITY

“Everything should be made as simple as possible. But never simpler”

-Albert Einstein

8“Our passion is to enable people to thrive in this mobile-fi rst and cloud-fi rst world.”

-Satya Nadella

BRAND includes the distinguishing

characteristics that are uniquely identifi able to

a person, a company, an entity.

While its origins may be synonymous with logo

and color, it is much more.

SPACE IS THE PHYSICAL EMBODIMENT OF BRAND

Allow it to convey values, traits, beliefs, attitudes

and cause emotional responses.

The Microsoft brand should be integrated throughout the space and not only in one space or with one gesture

Sometimes brand may speak loudly and

sometimes more softly, but it should be clear in

capturing our beliefs.

BRAN

D IS

MOR

E

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T H E B E N E F I T S O F A I R , L I G H T A N D N AT U R E A R E K E Y T O O U R W E L L - B E I N G

Bring the natural environment into work

alongside the man-made.

Introducing nature into man-made environments

can be more than plant life. Don’t get us wrong,

introducing greenery inside in the right way is a

beautiful thing. However don’t stop there.

We can look to nature and natural systems for a

multitude of inspirations.

Sensations from these affect our orientation,

health, time awareness, and emotional state of

being

F R O M

D AY L I G H T

S H A D O W S

A I R M O V E M E N T

C O L O R

B I O - M I M I C R Y

t o

t o

t o

t o

NATU

RE IS

OUR

ALL

Y

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Arrival (and Departure)

Communal & Social

Learn. Share. Meet.

Focus & Solace

Group Focused Collaboration

Connectors & Pathways

Health & Well-Being

JOURNEY EXPERIENCESThis is a description of activities, emotions, and experiences that take place in all Microsoft environments. It is the “in-between” place; a

bridge between BELIEFS and detailed GUIDELINES. The intent is to loosely describe a non-sequential journey and the desired characteristics

that accompany it. Each of the experiences relates to current spaces as defined by the Guidelines. For example, Arrival Experience can

include: view from exterior, the vestibule, the lobby, the reception point & person, the garage, the elevator ride, or the security gates.

11“...empower people to do magical things with our creations...”

Keep the Audience intrigued. Allow them to roam, move,

explore, discover.

Multiple Audiences, Multiple Entries, Multiple First Impressions

(apparently, you can have a second chance to make a fi rst impression)

First impression opportunities:

drive up

garage to elevator

vestibule

back entries

security transition points

Security points are an opportunity to celebrate transition.

Keep things “fresh”; allow for change.

colleague customer visitor

W e l c o m e t o o u r h o u s e .

Where am I? Where are you? Where am I going?

Orient the Audience.

-Satya Nadella

ARRI

VAL (

AND

DEPA

RTUR

E)

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Fuel up. Take a break. Get together.

Work or Relax.

A chance for chance encounters.

Consider a new interpretation of the

hearth - the center of the home.

Mostly social & communal but also a

place to be alone... with others.

What are the next generation of

settings that inspire trust, sharing,

and meaningful interactions?

“...we are moving from a world where computing power was scarce to a place where it now

is almost limitless, and where the true scarce commodity is increasingly human attention...”

-Satya Nadella

COM

MUN

AL &

SOC

IAL

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LEAR

N. S

HARE

. MEE

T. sometimes casual

sometimes formal

expand & contract

animated discussions are good

How best to lead audiences?

create excited & encouraging receptivity of message

keep people awake but even better: ENGAGED

What are the attributes of space that encourage an

engaging conversation, be it

s m l xl?

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LEARNLEARN

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Secluded? Maybe.

Quiet? Probably.

Ability to dive deep? Yes.

A great easy chair beside a fi replace with

the best technology at your fi ngertips?

Yes, please

...maybe not literally, but how to capture

that sensibility in different ways?

COLOR FORM TEXTUREand defi nitely LIGHTING are key

create depth & mood

FOCU

S &

SOLA

CE

“Every experience Microsoft builds will understand the rich context of an individual

at work and in life to help them organize and accomplish things with ease.”

-Satya Nadella

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BEEHIVE MODEL:While a bit of an oxymoron,

the charge is to create the best

group-alone spaces for team focus.

WELCOME TO OUR HOUSE:part Brady house cool &

part June Cleaver warmth &

part Jetson amazing techno-wizardry

Encourage people to shape & brand their neighborhood

Encourage “wall conversations”

PART WORK LABORATORYPART STUDIOPART THINKTANK

TOGETHER & APART

team & individuals that

move

fl ex

come together

move apart

“The best work happens when you know that it’s not just work, but something that will improve other people’s lives.”

-Satya Nadella

GROU

P FO

CUSE

D CO

LLAB

ORAT

ION

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CONN

ECTO

RS &

PATH

WAY

S Daylight and views are best for

orientation but when not available,

create navigational devices.

The path is another opportunity for interaction.

Interesting waterways have inlets,

eddies, and pools. Pathways should consider the same.

Design with light creating highs,

lows, and intentionally non-uniform

lighting to punctuate, highlight, and

set desired ambiance.

At all good paths & sidewalks, there

are entries to.... something.CELEBRATE THE SMALL ENTRANCES.

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RespiteRelaxRejuvenate

Emotional

&

Physical Health

opportunities

ActiveSTAND WALK JOG CYCLEMOVE MOVE MOVE

HEAL

TH &

WEL

L-BE

ING

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PARTING THOUGHTSAs in smart town-planning, Microsoft aspires to great place-making at all scales, at all levels. The intent is

to create places that are uniquely Microsoft and espouse a strong Belief system... but even in developing a

common visual brand language, there is much room to celebrate the local, regional, and global differences to

avoid a “franchised” look.

As mentioned before, Microsoft is ever-changing; our environments must change, design process must evolve;

we want to change the conversation, shift the style of communication to a “dialogue”.

Consider that while space guidelines are still in play and important to the process, we are hoping to create

an aspirational atmosphere for our design professionals to do their best work... on our behalf. One that is not

prescriptive; one that leaves room for interpretations but also is less ambiguous regarding our beliefs and

goals.

A Design Dialogue.