Objects, Part 2: Kathy Emsoff

Home Office Chair
This is the chair in my home office. (Well really it’s a living room that I’m using as an office). I like this chair because it’s comfortable and not oversized or packed in with too many features. I also like the wheels because I move around a lot and the glide really smoothly over the wood floor.

Antique Chair
This is an antique chair that’s also in the front room. I love this chair because it used to be my grandmother’s chair and she did a lot of writing in it. I never met her, but the chair (and writing secretary it goes with) are important to my dad, who is 82, so they are important to me too.

Dining Chair
This is one of our dining room chairs and I don’t like it at all. My husband had the set before we met. Even though I’m not much of a decorator, I am not a fan of Craftsman revival. However, the chairs are very sturdy and comfortable. We only use them for holidays or when we have a bunch of people over and because I hate the fabric so much, I’m never stressed that someone will spill something on them. Spill away!

Breakfast/Kitchen Area Chair
This is one of the chairs in our breakfast area. Unlike the dining room chairs, I am worried someone will spill something on them because we use these chairs on a daily basis. In retrospect, I should have chosen a darker color. Like I said, I’m not much of a decorator, so I chose a neutral color and style for the chairs in the hope they would blend into to other furniture in the future.

Patio Chair
This chair is on our patio and I tried to capture the reflection so you can see what I see when I sit in this chair. Beyond our backyard is a big open area. It’s really pleasant place to sit and often I will bring my laptop or a book out to study. With the addition of the pillow, this chair has worked well for me and is comfortable even for a couple of hours. After I finish this post, I’m going to pour a glass of wine and go sit in that chair.

Car Driver’s Seat
This is the seat in my car. I like this seat because it has perforations that allow it to be heated or cooled. It’s a black car in Texas. The air-conditioned seat is a life-saver. Also, the controls are really intuitive and easy to use.

Office
This is a picture of my current office at Charles Schwab. As Cranz mentions, there is little variation in the modern office. Managing Directors and above at Schwab have offices while everyone else sits in an open area, but we all have the same chairs. The office does speak to status, but I don’t like it because I’m too far away from my team because there wasn’t an office available on the same floor. This will change soon. Our building is out of space and I’m currently working with corporate real estate to move all the UX people on Austin to a new location where we can all sit together.

New Office Location
This is one of the potential new spaces for the UX team that we would sit in until a new building is finished at the end of 2019. You can see that all the chairs and desks are the same. Very democratic. My only fear is that there are no dividers between the desks, so some of the team members are going to be unhappy. Also, there is no office in this area for me. On one hand I like the democracy of having the same space as everyone else. On the other hand, I have a lot of calls with various leaders in San Francisco and I’m going to have find random team rooms to hold calls if we move into this location. It’s going to be very inconvenient for me. Of the three spots I’m looking at, this one is the nicest, so this is probably the one it will be.