Meet David Craff, Product Manager Player / Partner
Qobuz, the French high-quality music streaming platform, has replaced its entire fleet of monitors at its offices in Pantin. The project was driven by a need to standardize equipment and optimize its flexible office setup, and it evolved into a complete rethink of the work experience. We spoke with David Craff.
Can you describe the working environment at Qobuz before this project?
We operate with a fully flexible office setup. Everyone can choose where they want to work each morning, although in practice, out of habit, employees tend to stick to the same desk. It's an organization we really like because it encourages interaction and keeps things moving. But in practical terms, it means your workstation needs to be ready to use immediately, no matter where you sit. And for various reasons, that wasn't the case.
What exactly was causing problems?
The monitors, in particular. We had a mixed fleet: HP, Iiyama, different generations, with different connections. VGA, DVI, a few HDMI ports. And we're a fully laptop-based company, with a lot of MacBooks. So everyone uses USB-C. To connect your computer to a monitor, you always needed an adapter. And those adapters... they were constantly disappearing. People would forget them, take their colleague's, or bring them home. In a flexible office, you would arrive at a workstation and never be sure you could actually work. It was a real source of stress in the morning.
How did you tackle the problem?
My goal was simple: wherever someone sits, it should just work. No adapter, no searching for a cable, no relying on the colleague next to you. Just one step: plug in the USB-C, and you're ready to go. The monitor turns on, the computer charges. That's it. For that, I needed monitors with native USB-C support, both for video and power delivery. All within a tight budget.
How did you discover our monitors?
I was looking for a 27-inch USB-C monitor for around €200. I initially had another model in mind, but prices had gone up in the meantime, by €30 to €50. While looking for an alternative, I came across your model. It ticked all the boxes: USB-C with charging, panel quality, and the right price. I ordered just one to start with. The white finish was a nice bonus.
Why just one to begin with?
I wanted our graphic designers to test it. They have the highest standards when it comes to display quality. If it works for them, it works for everyone. As it turned out, not only did they approve it, but they were pleasantly surprised by the image quality. I ordered ten more right away.
And then, how did you go from ten monitors to seventy?
Our managing director came into the offices while the first monitors were being installed. He showed them to the management team. And then he said one simple sentence: "I want them everywhere." I counted the workstations, the budget was approved, and we placed a large order: 27-inch monitors for all the offices, plus 55- and 75-inch models for the shared spaces.
Was the white finish a criterion from the start?
Not really. I mainly needed them to work. But it became a strong argument afterward. In our Pantin offices, it's all about white and blue. When we installed the white monitors with white stands, it created a real visual consistency. Before, with black monitors from different brands, things were harmonious, but white works much better with the colors of our Pantin offices. It gives the space a clean, airy look that aligns with our brand image.
Did it have an impact beyond the workstation?
Absolutely. Slack messages like "I can't find my adapter, has anyone seen it?" have simply disappeared. They're small things, but they ultimately make the start of the day easier. Visually, the offices are also more consistent. Before, we had black monitors, gray monitors, and cables scattered everywhere. Today, everything is aligned and streamlined. It's the kind of change whose impact you only really appreciate once it's been made. In fact, management noticed it too, which is why we continued replacing all of our monitors. The monitor is an important part of the workstation reorganization project at Qobuz, and it is doing exactly what it is supposed to do.
Any final thoughts?
The initial goal was simple: standardize, streamline, and make sure no one wasted time in the morning. We achieved that. And we also got an unexpected visual benefit. It's the kind of project where budget constraints force you to find the right solution rather than the easy one.
This case study was conducted during a visit to Qobuz's offices in Pantin.
