Why is it so hard to give people what they want in furniture design? LINcast host Gabe Duverge is joined by Keith Metcalf, industrial designer and founder of Design4U, and Samantha Lee an interior designer, strategist and founder of Samantha Lee LLC. The trio discussed the unique balance industrial and interior designers must strike when designing modern workplaces and the common challenges that arise in the design process.
“I've seen more people introduce choice into environments. So when you're giving someone choice over where they're sitting, whether that's open plan or in an office, or maybe they even move around during the day and it's more of a hot desking situation. If they have the choice, they're going to feel like they're more in control, which then leads to higher comfort levels and increased productivity. Maybe they're happier because they feel like they really get to choose how they use the space, when they use it and why.”
- Samantha Lee, interior designer, strategist and founder of Samantha Lee LLC
“What it boils down to is, coming up with products that can be personalized but yet fall within standards, if you will. Because there are standards out there, and I'm going to use the example of ergonomic standards to adapting to the way the human body and everything works. But it all becomes so relative to how a person likes a chair when they sit in it, and whether the cushion's too hard, too soft; it all is very relative. But I mean, that's where I'm going back to you. You want to design within limits, but you do not want to limit your designs to just solving a problem or solution. You want to also give that kind of understanding or answer that this design can be adaptable for multiple people, or for multiple spaces or for multiple users."
- Keith Metcalf, industrial designer and founder of Design4U
Listen in to learn how budget, generational preferences, new technology, and flexibility all play a part in the process for interior and industrial designers in creating a space or a new furniture design.