Humanyze

Humanyze, founded as Sociometric Solutions in 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts, is a people analytics software provider.[1][2] Humanyze was founded by MIT doctoral students Ben Waber, Daniel Olguin, Taemie Kim, Tuomas Jaanu, and MIT Professor Alex Pentland.[3] Based on research from the MIT Media Lab, Humanyze's people analytics platform helps companies measure corporate communication data to uncover patterns on how work gets done.

Humanyze
TypeC corporation
IndustryInternet, Software, Computer Hardware
PredecessorSociometric Solutions Inc.
Founded2010
FoundersBen Waber (CEO), Daniel Olguin (COO/CFO), Taemie Kim (Chief Scientist), Tuomas Jaanu (CTO), and Alex "Sandy" Pentland
Headquarters
Boston, MA
Websitewww.humanyze.com

Company History

The founders Waber, Olguin, Kim, and Jaanu, met while completing their Ph.D.s at the MIT Media Lab in Professor “Sandy” Pentland’s Human Dynamics group.[4] Sociometric Solutions Inc. was incorporated on October 26, 2010 as a research and consulting firm. In 2015, the company was rebranded as "Humanyze" and transitioned from a consulting firm to a software company. They raised $4M in Series A financing from Romulus Capital[5] and launched their people analytics software, Humanyze Elements, at the end of 2016.[6]

Sociometric Badge

While at the MIT Media Lab, Humanyze’s founders developed a sociometric badge, a high-tech I.D. card.[7] With the sociometric badge, they pioneered ways of collecting in-person collaboration data.[8] This badge has sensors to measure the frequency and duration of face-to-face interactions.[9][10] It does not record content, web activity, or personal activities.[11] It does not have GPS.[12]

Products

Humanyze's people analytics platform, Humanyze Elements, measures corporate communication data to uncover patterns on how work gets done. Human resources, operations, and corporate real estate professionals use the platform to analyze workplace data in real-time to make better decisions around organizational health, workplace strategy, and business process optimization. It is a web-based dashboard. A variety of data sources can be plugged into the Elements Platform including Microsoft Office Exchange, Google Suite, Skype, Humanyze Badge, and HID Bluvision I.D.[13]

Data Privacy

No personal data is available on the Humanyze Elements Platform, including employee profiles (names and email addresses). All data is encrypted, aggregated, and anonymized.[14] No communication content is recorded. There is no personally identifiable information (PII) or private confidential information (PCI). Humanyze is GDPR and EU Privacy Shield compliant.

News

The company has been covered in the media by various news and technology sources including New Scientist, The Boston Globe, CBS News, Businessweek, NPR, CNN, and the New York Times.[7][15][16][17][18][19] Humanyze's clients have included Bank of America, the United States Army, NASA, and BCG.[20][21][22][23][24][25] The company's research has supported the importance of face-to-face interactions and communication, and building larger networks among peers.[17]

Research

When Humanyze’s founders were researching their Ph.D.’s at the MIT Media Lab, they tested whether measuring all communication content from emails, texts, and in-person conversations would provide more insight. They measured over 100 MB of data per person per day.[source] With all of this data, they found that it was difficult to extract communication patterns. So, they tested measuring the frequency and duration of communication instead: timestamps of communication, length of conversations, and which teams talked to which teams. They found that the degree of accuracy was negligible; measuring content was extraneous and unnecessary.

Humanyze's founders have published 50+ research articles.[26][27][28] One finding from the firm's research was that simple physical changes such as having larger tables in a cafeteria facilitated more interaction and collaboration among colleagues than smaller tables.[18] Another finding emphasized the importance of group breaks and office spaces which facilitate such breaks as having an important effect on employee morale and efficacy.[19]

References
  1. Lohr, Steve (2017-10-06). "Don't Get Too Comfortable at That Desk". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  2. Mims, Christopher (2017-10-08). "Why Office Buildings Should Run Like Spaceships". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  3. Noyes, Katherine. "Startup Humanyze's 'people analytics' wants to transform your workplace". Computerworld. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  4. "'People Analytics' Through Super-Charged ID Badges". MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  5. "Humanyze raises $4M to help businesses better understand employee productivity – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  6. "Humanyze Launches People Analytics Platform, Humanyze Elements". Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  7. "Specs that see right through you - tech - 05 July 2011". New Scientist. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  8. Waber, Benjamin N.; Olguin Olguin, Daniel; Kim, Taemie; Pentland, Alex (2008-08-12). "Understanding Organizational Behavior with Wearable Sensing Technology". Rochester, NY. SSRN 1263992. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. Olguín Olguín, Daniel; Waber, Benjamin; Kim, Taemie; Mohan, Akshay; Ara, Koji; Pentland, Alex (February 2009). "Sensible Organizations: Technology and Methodology for Automatically Measuring Organizational Behavior" (PDF). IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics - Part B: Cybernetics. 39 (1): 43–55. doi:10.1109/TSMCB.2008.2006638. PMID 19150759.
  10. "The technology that's watching how you work, Work, Series 1, Billion Dollar Deals and How They Changed Your World - BBC Two". BBC. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  11. "New Firm Combines Wearables And Data To Improve Decision Making – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  12. "Moneyball in the Office Space". continuuminnovation.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  13. Humanyze. "Humanyze Teams with Bluvision, a part of HID Global, To Increase Access to Workforce Analytics". prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  14. "We Asked Men and Women to Wear Sensors at Work. They Act the Same but Are Treated Very Differently". Harvard Business Review. 2017-10-23. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  15. Kirsner, Scott (2011-07-18). "Watertown firm tracks how workers interact - The Boston Globe". Boston.com. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  16. "What charisma is, and how to get it". CBS News. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  17. Waber, Ben. "Forget the Office: Let Employees Work from Home". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  18. Talk of the Nation. "Concrete Steps For Creating A Happier Office". NPR. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  19. Korkki, Phyllis (2012-07-14). "Group Breaks Can Raise Workplace Productivity". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  20. Kirsner, Scott (2011-07-13). "Sociometric Solutions deploying digital 'dog tags' to track employee interactions - Innovation Economy". Boston.com. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  21. "MCTP participates in scientific study | Mission Command Training Program". Usacacblogs.army.mil. 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2012-11-25.
  22. "New BCG Office at 10 Hudson Yards Aims to Maximize Casual Collisions - The Boston Consulting Group". www.bcg.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  23. "Designing for Collaboration: BCG's "Collision Coefficient" - Urban Land Magazine". Urban Land Magazine. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  24. "These six people simulated a mission to Mars on a Hawaiian volcano". PBS NewsHour. 2015-06-14. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  25. "HI-SEAS Mission VI is the most international crew in study history". University of Hawaiʻi System News. 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  26. "Taemie Kim - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  27. "Benjamin N Waber - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
  28. "Daniel Olguin Olguin - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2018-03-19.
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