Okay, so sitting too long can cut into your life span like that old, decrepit razor, that you know your shouldn’t use, cuts into your jugular. So what’s the solution? Definitely not a dabbed piece of toilet paper that you’ll inevitably forget about the rest of the day! Alright, enough with the razor metaphor.

In our profession there’s really no way to avoid it. We have to sit. At some point we’re going to need to operate a mouse, stylus, keyboard, sketchbook, a sweet architectural pencil, or whatever. Virtually everything we do as designers requires sitting. So naturally sitting should not be taken lightly—in addition to much needed interruption in our daily sitting, we should make it as comfortable and minimally destructive as possible.

Enter the ergonomic chair. In this first part I’ll cover two of these chairs, the traditional and kneeling chair. The jury’s still out on all the claimed benefits of these chairs but its worth a look since we’ll be repeating this behavior for 4,133 days of our lives—give or take.

The first chair type is probably the most popular thus far. The poster child of this chair type is the Aeron by Herman Miller which weighs in a little hefty on the wallet. Below are some reviews of alternatives.

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/chair-designed-moving-and-grooving
http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/12/review-future-chair-offers-premium-experience-for-less-than-a-mortgage-payment/

http://thehumansolutionblog.com/2012/04/ergonomic-chair-review-the-humanscale-diffrient-world-chair/

To help you through the decision on which chair to buy here is a great definitive guide on what to look for.

The Kneeling chair is an interesting alternative which was pioneered by the Varier Furniture company. This seating style may take some getting used to, but there are some obvious benefits to this chair such as spine alignment and leg positioning for better circulation. Below are some related links.

Reviews
http://bodycorrectliving.blogspot.com/2009/10/wing-balans-chair-review-if-you-like.html

Info
http://modernhealthandfitness.com/kneeling-chairs-and-posture-chairs-what-are-they-and-do-they-work/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18810008

The important and obvious point is: how your chair feels and how it affects your work flow. Don’t be afraid to explore several options before making a choice. Stay tuned in for Part 2 where I’ll be introducing some slightly more unusual seating options.

~Ben Windsor, Membership Committee