Chairs at Work

This is my work chair, where I sit 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I haven’t had much time to go to the gym due to my busy schedule so I decided to invest in this exercise ball seat cushion for my work chair. This seat cushion is designed to work my core muscles by forcing me to sit in an upright posture and makes me feel like I’m getting a low-key workout at my desk. It makes me feel twice as productive while I work, since I like to convince myself I am simultaneously working out. The seat cushion is also 10x more comfortable than the original chair cushion, even when I’m sitting on it the wrong way. Admittedly this cushion looks a bit goofy but I feel like it’s really “me”, and it makes showing up to work that much more delightful. I also enjoy spinning around in this chair. I fidget a lot, so I always appreciate when a chair has wheels.

This is the chair I sit in when I’m talking to my boss in his office.  It’s a pretty mundane spectacle in a rather grotesque shade of lime green. After being used to sitting in my main work chair, this chair’s thin cushion pales in comparison. However, the more stiff structure of this chair causes me to feel more attentive and focused, which is helpful when interacting with my boss. I don’t typically utilize the back or armrests because I am usually leaning forward on my laptop when seated in this chair. While I do not like this shade of green, it does kind of brighten up the mood a tad (perhaps because it has hints of yellow in it). While this chair also has wheels, I do not spin around in it for obvious reasons.

Chairs at Home

This chair (if you can even see it) pretty much depicts the chaos that is my adult life. It is an office chair that faces a table in my room. I typically sit in this chair when I’m making jewelry for my online shop. This chair clearly has multiple functionalities as it doubles as a laundry basket. Sometimes I find myself in a haste and throw my clothes on this chair. The result is that I have slightly more than a couple inches of actual sitting space. To say that this chair causes anxiety would be an understatement. It seems that every time I remove my clothes from this chair, clothes find their way back. For what it’s worth, at least I can comfortably place my elbows on the armrests.

All I think of when I see this stool is my ravenous hunger being satiated. This is the stool I sit on when I am eating, whether it’s dinner or a midnight snack. While I wish this stool had a backrest, I’m usually far too hungry to care what I’m sitting on. In fact, I feel that since this chair does not have a backrest, it actually forces me to sit in a better posture which aids digestion. The cushion is a nice touch too, as it is quite comfortable. Overall, I have no qualms with this stool. It serves its purpose.

Perhaps my favorite “chair” of all isn’t even a chair, it’s my bed. When I am seated in my bed, it is usually the end of a long day. Whether I’m relaxing or working, sitting in my room on my bed always gives me an overall sense of peace. I lean back against two propped up pillows for added comfort while sitting. I like the fact that I can stretch out my legs on my bed. I also enjoy the fact that I feel very at home and safe when I am in bed. It feels like a space that is strictly mine.

Other Chairs

While the driver’s seat of my car is physically comfortable, what makes me enjoy sitting in it the most is how it makes me feel mentally/emotionally. I love being in my car’s driver’s seat because it makes me feel in control, as well as introspective. Since I am a person who finds it hard to sit still, I enjoy driving because it feels productive, like I’m going somewhere, even if that means I’m just driving around aimlessly to good music. Often while driving, I self-reflect and come to meaningful realizations. Beyond driving, I’ve also taken numerous naps in my seat  (hence the hanging dreamcatcher) as it is a peaceful place where I can feel genuinely isolated. I think a large part of why I love sitting in my car so much has to do with the fact I still live with my parents and can often feel stifled at home. Sometimes I’ll just sit in my car when I want some time alone. Other times I’ll be sitting with a friend having a deep conversation. Since I spend so much time sitting in my car, my waterproof seat cover is a nice add-on because I don’t have to worry about spilling anything. I enjoy leaning back and pondering life. I look at my car as a vehicle to my outer world and inner world.

Object I Love

I love this espresso/cappuccino machine because it’s simple, easy-to-use, and sleek (just look at those smooth curves; hello contour bias). Even without reading the instructions, the affordances in this machine’s design make it clear to users what actions should be taken of each component. Some of the affordances employed by this machine are listed below:

• The hinges of the metal lid reveal that this is a lid that swings open from the front.
• The narrowing mouth of the dispenser indicates that below this is where the drink is dispensed.
• The metal grills, which are a form of forgiveness in design, help to “minimize the negative consequences of error” (Lidwell, Holden and Butler, 2010) by acting as a security measure in the case that there is an accidental spillage.
• The four buttons clearly look like buttons that can be pressed. Each button is then made distinguishable through iconic representation that allows the user to quickly differentiate between the size (either a shot or a cup) and type (either an espresso or cappuccino) of drink that will result from pressing the button.
• The small rectangular toggle indicates that a user can drag the toggle to the right. This then results in the opening of the milk tray. While this feature may not be evident at first, a user will quickly understand its function given this machine’s purpose and through a simple process of elimination.

I thought it might be of interest to add that cognitive conditioning may also play a role in why I find this machine so delightful. Before using this espresso machine, I am usually in a groggy tired state. However, knowing that the espresso shots dispensed by this machine will increase my vitality and thereby my mood, my psycho-pleasure is enhanced while using this machine. After repeatedly using this machine, my body now associates it with the reward of feeling alive. So I guess that may be another reason why I love it.

Object I Strongly Dislike

These are the controls of my new electric clothes dryer. I realize that a lot of dryer controls look like this, but just because a design is commonly used does not necessarily make it a good. From the crowded text to the duplicate labels to the awkwardly angled off positions to the ambiguous time measurements, this design is all but easy to use.

On the day that we got this dryer, my mom explained to me, “Make sure when you dry your clothes, don’t use ‘very dry’. You can just go with less dry and keep drying it if it isn’t dry enough.” I didn’t think I’d ever heard ‘dry’ repeated so many times in a sentence. The day inevitably arrived that I needed to use this dryer and my mother’s advice echoed in my brain. However, after arriving at this device, I was taken aback by the number of options. According to Hick’s Law, the number of alternatives increases the amount of time it takes to make a decision and I remember staring at these controls for a few minutes completely dumbfounded. Not only were there a lot of options, at first glance there seemed to be two sets of the same options.

I wasn’t sure which setting to use or which “Less dry” to twist the knob to face. It took me longer than it should have to process the controls and recognize that the disparity between the two “Automatic Dry” options was the level of heat — either low or high. This was because these labels are written in a tiny font that makes them hardly legible. I feel like a better way to design this would have been to show “Low Heat” and “High Heat” as the main headers with  “Automatic Dry” underneath (in a legible font size). This way, it would be easy to pinpoint the difference between the two options.

It was also strange that the high heat “Automatic Dry” seemed to denote a(n) (arbitrary) sense of hierarchy because it was written in a larger font size than for low heat. This made me subconsciously think that it was the default option, so after all that contemplation I finally decided to twist the knob to face the high heat “Less Dry”. Needless to say, my mom had actually been referring to low heat and my clothes shrunk.

Works Cited

Lidwell, W., Holden, K. and Butler, J. (2010). Universal principles of design. 2nd ed. Rockport Publishers, pp.22, 62, 104, 132.