Barbieri and team set out to learn more about how people use sit-stand desk options. They “compared usage patterns of two different electronically controlled sit-stand tables during a 2-month intervention period among office workers…Twelve workers were provided with standard sit-stand tables (nonautomated table group) and 12 with semiautomated sit-stand tables programmed to change table position according to a preset pattern, if the user agreed to the system-generated prompt (semiautomated table group). Table position was monitored continuously…On average, the table was in a ‘sit’ position for 85% of the workday in both groups; this percentage did not change significantly during the 2-month period. Switches in table position from sit to stand were, however, more frequent in the semiautomated table group than in the nonautomated table group…A semiautomated sit-stand table may effectively contribute to making postures more variable among office workers and thus aid in alleviating negative health effects of extensive sitting.”
More on the test conditions: the semiautomated tables were “equipped with a system designed to control table configuration according to a programmable schedule.” This schedule was 10 minutes of standing (i.e., having the table at a taller height) for each 50 minutes spent sitting (i.e., having the table at a shorter height). Table height could be adjusted only when change prompts were received and overall 82% of all change prompts were followed. Ten percent of change suggestions were rejected and 8% were either postponed or ignored.
Dechristian Barbieri, Divya Srinivasan, Svend Mathiassen, and Ana Oliveira. 2017. “Comparison of Sedentary Behaviors in Office Workers Using Sit-Stand Tables With and Without Semiautomated Position Changes.” Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, vol. 59, no. 5, pp. 780-795.
Sally Augustin, PhD, a cognitive scientist, is the editor of Research Design Connections (www.researchdesignconnections.com), a monthly subscription newsletter and free daily blog, where recent and classic research in the social, design, and physical sciences that can inform designers’ work are presented in straightforward language. Readers learn about the latest research findings immediately, before they’re available elsewhere. Sally, who is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, is also the author of Place Advantage: Applied Psychology for Interior Architecture (Wiley, 2009) and, with Cindy Coleman, The Designer’s Guide to Doing Research: Applying Knowledge to Inform Design (Wiley, 2012). She is a principal at Design With Science (www.designwithscience.com) and can be reached at sallyaugustin@designwithscience.com.