Creating a Sustainable, Universal Task Chair

Humanscale, a leading ergonomic office furniture manufacturer, partnered with DISHER to create a universal task chair that would automatically adjust to an individual’s body shape and type with minimal user involvement. Additionally, the design had to set a new standard for sustainability.

The unique concept for the chair was a weight-activated motion capability with no visible mechanism points. Humanscale came to us with the initial visual and mechanical design. Together, DISHER and Humanscale engineers iterated on this concept through prototyping and testing to mature the concept into a production-ready design.

Using a phantom pivot point and weight compensation rate, comfort was maximized for the broadest range (95%) of the population. The DISHER-Humanscale team combined their skills to bring this leading-edge weight-activated motion design to market. It enables users to recline comfortably and easily, while holding their position, without the need to adjust a tension mechanism.

Extensive finite element analysis (FEA) work was done to determine the stiffness characteristics of the chair needed to support the user properly and comfortably. We also had to verify that the design and chosen materials were strong and durable enough to pass BIFMA standards and even higher Humanscale standards. For the rigorous sustainability requirements, DISHER and Humanscale investigated the use of as many recycled materials and parts that we could safely implement on the chair. The chair is comprised of nearly 22 pounds of recycled plastics including ocean-recovered fishing nets.

In addition, the DISHER team worked extensively on the chair’s arm design. We were given 3D sketches of the desired chair arm aesthetic. Together, we worked to innovate the best way to attach the arm to the chair, make it height-adjustable, and iterate with FEA to make it strong enough to withstand BIFMA overload testing.

Works-like and looks-like prototypes of varying fidelity levels were built by DISHER to validate comfort, visual, assembly, and/or structural needs. These prototype iterations led to a set of final testable full-chair prototypes to give confidence in moving forward to production tooling. DISHER worked with Humanscale’s tooling, molding, and testing partners to prove out the entire chair. This included implementing T1 and T2 changes to insure meeting both Humanscale quality as well as structural standards of BIFMA and Humanscale.

The Path chair, aka the world’s most sustainable task chair, was successfully launched in 2022. Humanscale has patented the revolutionary Gravity Mechanism™ which uses bodyweight instead of controls. It is touted as the chair that adapts to every body type right out of the box with climate-positive certification.

The design exceeded Humanscale’s growing legacy of “minimal, ergonomic, and eco-conscious design”. According to Humanscale, the path chair “upcycles more plastic waste than any other chair in the industry.”

The chair won numerous awards in 2022 including: the iF Design Award; Mixology Product of the Year; Best of Year: Environmental Impact by Interior Design; SEAL Sustainability Product Award and SEAL Environmental Initiative Award; Metropolis Planet Positive Award; and NYCxDESIGN Award – Contract Seating. In 2023. Path earned Fast Company’s 2023 Innovation by Design Award, Best Material Innovations, and Best Sustainable Designs; and the Dezeen Award for Workplace Design.