High Chair:
THE WESLEY CHAIR
Work with a group to reimagine the high chair. Design a high chair for the fictional company “BB”. Interview real people to gather insights and understand user needs. Focus on sustainability, creating a cohesive brand language and an easy user assembly. All pieces of the chair must fit into a 12”x 6”x 30” box.
My role in the group with Dominic Gallo and Emilia Thein was to ideate, research, and conceptualize the project.
Prompt:
Interviews:
Wes (7 months): Beanstalk Chair
Prioritizes cost and cleanability
A bassinet to high chair to a booster seat - loved that chair grew with baby and did not have to buy multiple chairs
Wished that chair height was adjustable
Miles (6 months): The Lalo Chair
Prioritizes cleanability and aesthetics
Fits into the aesthetic of a modern kitchen- good since it will always be out and visible
Does not take up too much space
Sophie (5): Stokke Tripp Trapp Chair
Prioritizes aesthetic and livability
Multiple kids and it still outlives their youngest
Tray came off too easily- kids could accidentally take it off
Preferred the option to lean back
Research found that the high chair market had tensions about what a chair could be. We aimed to design our high chair within the yellow circles.
Tensions:
Through ideation, our group decided to create a high chair that turns into a step stool. The design would use all the pieces in both forms so nothing is thrown away. This was important because we wanted to create a sustainable product that could last longer than the couple of years a child needs a high chair.
Ideation:
Concept Development:
Chair Mode
Stool Mode
Our group wanted the front legs of the chair to be at a slight angle to save space while creating more interesting aesthetics, but it created problems we had to address:
At least one configuration would have leftover parts, which would get lost or thrown away.
Switching between configurations required complicated disassembly and reassembly by the user.
By constructing a physical model, our group was able to find a solution by removing the angle on half of the legs. This was a compromise on aesthetics, but worth it for the function we wanted.
Final Design:
Brand Language:
The butterfly logo represents the transformation from chair to stool.
