Permiso Conference Room Chair for Vecta
Embracing permissive posture to enable collaboration
The nature of work in most companies is becoming increasingly collaborative. Conference rooms in particular have evolved from static presentation areas to dynamic multipurpose hubs with varying focal points. Looking to support today’s changing work behaviors, IDEO and Vecta collaborated on the design of a new, more agile conference chair.
As part of IDEO’s human-centered design process, team members began by observing how people sit in conference room chairs in a range of situations. IDEO discovered that to stay engaged with a task, meeting, or presentation, people frequently shift their seating position to relieve muscle fatigue. To best serve this natural tendency to ‘squirm,’ IDEO opted to design a conference chair that allowed for multiple seating positions. This design behavior came to be known among the team as ““permissive posture”“: let them sit how they please. After extensive prototyping, refinement, and testing, IDEO and Vecta introduced the Permiso chair.
The Permiso chair features a number of innovations that allow the sitter to alternate between various seating positions. Included in these are the options of folding arms that can be significantly lowered for sideways seating; a deeply scalloped back with a height optimized to serve as a padded armrest’also for sideways seating; and a deep seat pan for constant comfort. These features accommodate position shifts, allowing the sitter to change their posture, remain comfortable, and ultimately stay more engaged with the task at hand. Permiso’s full upholstery offers architects, interior designers, and facilities managers great flexibility in their choice of fabrics or leathers, all at an aggressive price point.
The Vecta Permiso chair won the 2006 NeoCon Gold Medal for conference room seating.
Project date: 2006
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