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home / programmes / research associates / 2001 / working lives / kinder
Pascal Anson / Design Products
kinder:
quality time at the workstation
Research and development of a 'mini-series' of workstation elements that support the sedentary office worker in eating, working, relaxing and exercising at the desk.
Long hours of sedentary office work tied to a computer workstation still represents the experience of the vast majority of the working population. This project is set in the context of recent studies showing that poor workstation design is a major contributor to rising levels of staff sickness and productivity loss. A 'mini-series' of workstation elements at an intermediate scale between desktop products and furniture is proposed to support what people really do at work.
Twenty office workers in five different countries were asked to keep a photo-diary of their working lives for two weeks. The results revealed that people do a lot of things at their desk besides work, often to the detriment of their health and well-being. Five research questions emerged to drive new design proposals. Can I work and eat properly at the same time? Is my stuff safe? All I see is plastic, where in the nature? Should I be sitting like this? Do I take a break or carry on tired? These questions are addressed by five prototypes - Mini Cafe, Mini Store, Mini Garden, Mini Desk and Mini Bed - which propose a more human-centred approach to workstation design.
Research partner: Kinnarps