huddle around a digital whiteboard . In the gallery — an airy space that looks a lot like an upscale retail store — foam models , proof-ofconcept designs , and an array of laptop parts , keycaps , speakers , and circuit boards are splayed out on stark white countertops . Light from the courtyard pours in from the floor-to-ceiling windows .
“ The studio has become a home ,” says Wolff , who ’ s been with the company for 27 years . “ When you think about a house , where does everybody go ? Where is the love , and creation , and the stories being told ? All that is shared in the kitchen .”
Granted this kitchen also has a really , really nice espresso maker . The new space , like the kitchen , bubbles with energy and fuels the collaborative process , which was somewhat stifled when everyone was working remotely . “ Creativity is a magical thing ,” Wolff says . “ That ’ s why it ’ s so important to design in a common space . We took for granted the process of organic product development . When you work from home , it becomes almost serial development . There ’ s no serendipity .”
After months of improvising the tools they needed to work together , the team finds that being back in the office is where they can be most creative and efficient .
“ Designers are very hands-on ,” says Kevin Massaro , Vice President of Consumer Design . “ Everything in the studio is tactile .”
Yet , the time spent working remotely produced valuable insights that are informing future products , such as a PC camera disaggregated from the monitor so it can be manipulated to capture something on a person ’ s desk ( like a sketch ); super-wide-screen displays with integrated light bars that offer a soft backlight for people working late at night ; and monitors that adjust to taller heights , to better accommodate a standing desk .
In recent years , the team has also turned its sights toward defining — and redefining — what sustainable design means for HP .
In 2021 HP announced some of the most aggressive and comprehensive climate goals in the technology industry , bringing new complexity — and new gravitas — to what Wolff and his team are aiming to accomplish .
“ You ’ re no longer just a company that ’ s manufacturing technology , you ’ re a company that ’ s helping to better people ’ s lives ,” Wolff says . Working toward HP ’ s goal to become the most sustainable and just technology company is less about integrating greater percentages of recycled materials into new products , and more about an accounting of the entire life cycle of a device , from the electricity used over its lifetime and the minerals mined for its batteries , to the chemicals used in its painted powder coating and what exactly happens to a product when returned for recycling .
When a customer opens a box made of 100 % recycled moldedfiber packaging to reveal the premium Elite Dragonfly PC , which made waves for being the
first notebook with ocean-bound plastic , that ’ s where this team ’ s efforts become tangible .
The Dragonfly isn ’ t only a triumph of design , it proved that circularity can be an integral part of mass-manufacturing for personal electronics . The
third generation of that same device , released in March ( see “ How the HP Elite Dragonfly Took Flight ,” page 36 ), raised the bar for battery life and weight with a new process that fuses aluminum and magnesium in the chassis , the latter of which is both lightweight and 100 % recyclable .
This was a feat of engineering alchemy , says Chad Paris , Global Senior Design Manager . “ Not only do you have different properties of how these metals work together , it was a challenge to make sure that it ’ s seamless ,” he says .
The team innovated and came up with a thermofusion process that lends a premium feel to the Dragonfly while keeping its weight at just a kilogram .
This inventiveness dovetails with Wolff ’ s pragmatic approach to sustainability . Not only does each change have to scale for a manufacturer the size of HP , it has to strike the right balance between brand integrity and forward-leaning design . “ We can take waste and make great things ,” Wolff says , gesturing at a pile of uniform plastic pellets that used to be a discarded bottle . “ But ultimately , we want our products to live longer , so we ’ re designing them to have second lives .”
A sustainable HP notebook , no matter what materials it ’ s made from , needs to look and feel like HP made it , says Sandie Cheng , Global CMF Director . The CMF ( colors , materials , finishes ) library
FROM BOTTLE TO PELLET TO PRODUCT
An ocean-bound plastic bottle is recycled into new material , broken down and re-formed into pieces that are uniform in size , shape , color , and strength , suitable for manufacturing a device like the HP Elite Dragonfly .
holds thousands of fabric swatches , colored tiles , and paint chips and samples , which Cheng uses as inspiration for the look and feel of fine details such as the touch pad on a laptop , the smooth glide of a hinge , or the sparkle of the HP logo peeking through a laser-etched cutout . J
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