bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Denise Tsang

The intrusion of electronic gadgets such as iPads and smartphones into offices has not only shaped work life, but also workstations.
Steelcase, one of the world's biggest and oldest manufacturers of office furniture, has rolled out a new chair it calls the "Gesture", which it says is designed to accommodate the ever-widening range of seating postures adopted by office workers who are no longer deskbound at their computers, but get their work done by using their electronic gadgets.
Steelcase Asia-Pacific president Uli Gwinner explained that improvements to the design of workstations and social areas would directly help lift productivity, efficiency and creativity.
The company's new chair is a product highlight in the Business of Design Week, a global trade show on design, products and brands, this week.
It is billed by Steelcase as an aid to encouraging more interaction among staff.
The Gesture chair was the outcome of a Steelcase survey of more than 8,000 people around the world who used electronic gadgets such as iPads, mini-iPads, tablets and smartphones in the office.
The survey identified the nine most popular postures adopted by users and which traditional office chairs did not support.
Gwinner said the shelf life of office furniture was normally about five to 10 years, but this was no longer the case in the wake of the greater use of electronic gadgets in offices.
"The old dogma was you should sit properly on your chair and then you would be productive," he said. "The new dogma is sit how you want, and the chair will support whatever position you take.
"Grandparents told us to sit still at our desks and concentrate. But there are more people who need to walk around in order to concentrate. Every person has different needs."
The Gesture, Gwinner said, could help attract and retain talent, especially on the mainland where a survey by United States-based research firm Gallup showed only 6 per cent of workers were engaged in their jobs last year, way below the world's average of 11 per cent.
The majority, or about two in every three workers, were not properly engaged in their jobs, the survey showed.


Office chair fits spot in era of electronic gadgets

Uli Gwinner

Business

Companies

The intrusion of electronic gadgets such as iPads and smartphones into offices has not only shaped work life, but also workstations.
