The Office ChairRedesign presentation

Bryon Sutherland

Design Principles: Good

Function• 80/20 Rule• Accessibility• Affordance• Flexibility-Usability

Tradeoff• Constraint• Normal Distribution• Convergence

Aesthetics• Aesthetic-Usability Effect• Color• Performance versus

Preference

Design Principles: BadFunction• Affordance• Mapping• Modularity• Segmentation: difficult to

assemble• Weight: chairs are heavy• Surplus: most functions

rarely used• Feedback: no feedback for

bad posture

Aesthetics• Color in the real world• Contour bias• Design by committee• Stickiness• MAYA• von Restorff Effect• Curvature• Dynamics

Iteration 1, the Exclamation PointEye catchingUnstable seatSeems to defy physicsSelf-orienting (sort of)

Iteration 1, problems

• Lead ball is – Heavy (40 lbs)– Expensive– Poisonous– Likely to damage floors

• Chair needs a constraint– Falling backwards very easy

• Welded a flange on rear• No height adjustment

Design alternatives

Final design, Iconoclast

• Removes lead ball issues• Provides backwards constraint• Falls to rest position• No need to self-orient• Keeps freedom in 300°• Adjustable• Modular

Iconoclast

Design principles appliedMAYAContour biasColorHip-waist ratiovon Restorff effectCurvatureDynamicsMappingDesign by dictatorSegmentationWeightModularityFeedback loopForm follows functionIterationNormal distributionPrototyping

Hierarchy of Needs

Office chairs• There are many different

office chairs with varying qualities.

• The best chairs allow the user to ignore the chair and get work done.

• The worst chairs need constant adjustment and draw the user’s attention away from work.

Iconoclast chair• Not a functional chair for

many in population.• Targeted users can

express themselves in new ways with colors and materials.