Glide

A balanced home workspace

Spring 2024

Synopsis

A 16-week senior project and case study on young adults working from home.

The project was to find an opportunity for a workspace design that supports the balance of work and home life.

Mentor

Benjamin Martin, Industrial Designer @ Whipsaw

Core Objectives

User Research

Secondary Research

Workspace Ideation + Explore AI

Ergonomics

Brand Language

Solidworks

Keyshot

Captures from interviews with college students, remote workers, and interior designer Virginia San Frantello

Work and home life are more difficult to manage when your space is limited

Over 1/4 of respondents from a study are working from their living room

How might we balance work & leisure for adults living in small spaces such as studios, apartments?

Home Workspace ideation

I went from familiar workspaces to more radical concepts to understand how far the home workspace can go

Work-From-Home Problems

Throughout the project, I highlighted the problem areas I had to target as the opportunities became clear

Workspace solution Directions

Integrating audio/visual entertainment could positively impact home-life while the size of the coffee table is the most realistic option for working in a small space

End-Table Inspiration (Krea.ai)

With the challenge of developing a modern-homey aesthetic that is appropriate for my audience, I input my design into AI to inspire unique forms centered around audio entertainment & visual proportions.

End-table form Development

Critical milestones in the form and mechanical developments of the end-table

Small Space ergonomics and interactions

I explored with rough mockups of the end-table on a weekly basis to refine both the form, scale, and interactions of the design, ensuring that it can appropriately fit multiple sitting heights

Desk & Speaker Refinements

Through regular refinements of the form and mechanisms, the design improved from its distracting forms and became more grounded in simplicity. I decided to integrate SONOS as the audio of the end-table because their form language and DNA fit well with the home entertainment side of the design.