“IDEO collaborated with Steelcase to find and design the right platform for improving the classroom experience. The team observed, among other things, that tablet-arm desks had remained unchanged for decades, even though class sizes and densities had grown dramatically. This presented an opportunity for Steelcase to enter the education market with a product that could immediately make an impact on seating arrangements.
The final product, dubbed the Node chair, has received praise for promoting student collaboration, allowing educators to reconfigure classrooms to fit different teaching styles, and enabling institutions to save money by making spaces more flexible and accommodating for varied uses.”
Oh, god. These look ridiculously uncomfortable. The arched back guarantees no upper back or neck support, which increases tension and therefore tension headaches. The chairs themselves are hard enough, IME of having one class with chairs very similar to these, that parts of you can go numb from the pressure. The desktop can’t handle a reasonable amount of material. I’d be forever accidentally using my neighbor’s desktop and I know I’m not the only one.
All in all these look like awful options.
