Wednesday 17 February 2010

Desk-centric design

Do you hate your desk?

Chances are you do.

Have you thought deeply about why you hate your desk? Do these feelings have to do with your mother? There may be some Freudian thread to follow here, but I have a better answer.

Desks aren't comfortable. They aren't made for comfort, they are made to provide a working surface for your keyboard, your monitor, files, books, etc... Desks are sized based on average human proportions. Humans come in all shapes and sizes, so it should be easy to see the weakness in the foundation of desk-centric design.

Chairs are the other main component of an ergonomic workstation. Chairs come in all shapes and sizes and prices. If you're paying very close attention to all the fundamentals of ergonomic workstation design, you may be able to find a chair and a desk that suits your body, and you may be able to afford it. Just maybe, you'll get it right.

Chances are, you'll still be disappointed in the comfort efficiency of your workstation. The static placement of your display (monitor), the location of your keyboard, relative to you, a dynamic individual, is just not optimal.

Whether you spend $100 or $15,000 setting up your computer / desk / chair workstation, you're still at high risk of RSI if you log many hours each day working on the keyboard.

Repetitive stress injury (such as CTS) is a risk that arises mainly from desk-centric design.

Human-centric, dynamic design is our focus. We have been developing high-tech, low-cost solutions. Our systems prevent health problems that are rooted in our evolution beyond the desk, and our failure to adapt ourselves to the technology that is available.

Desks are antiquated fixtures that do not match today's technology - our ability to transcend the need for cumbersome desks, and our ability to operate efficiently on virtual desktops should be reflected in the furniture we buy and surround ourselves with.

Desks are no longer a necessity, yet we spend billions of dollars each year on desks. We support material gobbling industries reliant upon our willing addiction to this arcane form of self-imprisonment. It is image based slavery. We work at a computer - we sit in a chair - therefore we need a desk.

Wrong!

LET MY PEOPLE GO!

The long awaited technology - the platform of our future is almost here. It's called COMFORT.

Keep hating your desk - and prepare to get rid of it forever:)