Not all features explored made it into the final design.

We explored a large number of avenues for developing seating. Custom formed, metal frame, modified products, imported specialty chairs.

Ultimately, designing a custom seat and its accompanying hardware became a project as large in scope as MeSpace itself, prompting us to make the choice to modify the unit to accommodate a standard office chair.

Logistically, most offices have a furniture supplier already on speed dial, and won’t have a problem finding or using an existing offering. This also allows for a wide range of seating types, depending on cutomer preference.

Testing the ergonomic impact of a racing seat.

Trying our hand at creating a custom seat, we sought after control over: the (lack) of armrests, seatback height, seating width, and overall ergonomics to fit perfectly into our limited space and minimize downsides.

Drawing from the basics of a ‘task’ style chair, elements in the manner of space and padding were added to increase comfort.

There are many more chairs than shown.

The chairs below were imported for their specialty mechanism that enabled them to stow away when standing at the desk.

The user themselves put a cap on the idea.

In a field test, we offered units with two options: a standard office chair, and our collapsible custom.

Position adjustments are a significant aspect of fidgeting. Fidgeting consists of movements that ultimate suffice to placate certain areas of the brain and, in this case, assist with focus. Not being able to fidget was highly distracting for many users. As focus was a major aspect of the product goal, this was unacceptable.

Unable to find compatible rolling base hardware to allow the chair to move, the hesitant response to the study was too intense to make the compromise worth the benefit in the end.

Originally a solution to maximize space in conjunction with a fixed chair, the sliding desk combined with the seating to create a dynamic workspace that adapted to a sitting or standing configuration.

We were able to engineer a successful iteration but ultimately scrapped the idea due to complexity.

Before the hardware could be tested, I created multiple generations of wooden sliding desks to nail down min/max dimensions for all types of users.

The obvious starting point was test first drawer slides; plentiful in the locker industry in both quantity and type. Weight and movement constraints ultimately forced alternative options.

The intricacies of top-mounting drawer hardware and limitation to the out-facing edges of the desktop created more problems than it was able to solve, even in our best attempts.

The most impactful system we created utilized tubular friction pads and an extruded aluminum rail. Thin, smooth, reliable, and with just enough friction to stick where placed, the design was a success.

We were proud to feature the design in our largest field test. Despite its success, it ultimately supplemented the lacking mobility in a fixed chair. Once the fixed seating was ruled out, having such a complex manufacturing process going into production with little latent benefit crossed this feature off the list.