Deconstructing Product Design

Aeron Chair

Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick for Herman Miller, 1992

1. With radical emphasis on function over form, the Aeron revolutionized both office ergonomics and office sociology. Gone are the days of one-size-fits-all chairs and office castes where title and position are indicated by the size and padding of one’s seat. It was the Aeron that made it so. The product of substantial research conducted by Herman Miller on how people really sit versus how they should sit, the Aeron is, in a sense, born of pure inductive design, enabling the abandonment of superstitions and vestigial conventions about how chairs ought to be. The result is an object that disappears when used — an object that, rather than seeking continuous notice and recognition, ...