Standing up a prototype

26 Jun 2023

24 hours with an upgraded standing desk at home and I’m really glad I went for it. But I wanted to write a few words about prototypes, minimum viable products, and describe my original standing desk for posterity.

It started during Covid, working at home for many consecutive days. I made the most ergonomic “normal” desk I could, balancing a laptop on a pile of books to bring it to eye level. Each day still finished with a sore neck, and my posture is terrible - so I cobbled together a prototype standing desk, with zero investment (I already had all the parts), just to see how I liked it. That prototype had all the features I needed - so I’d argue it was a minimum viable product. And it lasted four years: I used it several times a week. I really like it when the first version of something is so good, it just lasts.

I put a big cookbook on its side in the upper kitchen cabinet, laptop on top, cupboard open (obviously). Wireless keyboard on top of the bread bin, and wireless mouse on the kitchen surface. Then the display was at eye level, my elbows were at a right angle, and as a bonus I could lift the lid of the bread bin whenever I got peckish.

After the upgrade I have a significantly larger, motorised up-and-down, cable-tidied beauty with a stand for two monitors. It takes up quite a bit of space in our spare bedroom. And I think I have pulled a muscle in my back while dragging it up the stairs and assembling it in place - which is yeah, ironic.

With thanks to the people who helped me procure this upgrade (thanks, Ben at work) and get it into a van and up the stairs (thanks, superwife).

Standing desk

Tags: geeky, personal, work

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