It’s not often cube and comfort go hand in hand. So the flat backrest design chosen to keep it as aesthetically simple as possible, might have felt counter-intuitive. With that in mind, he was insistant comfort wasn’t scarificed. Otherwise, it would defeated the whole purpose of Responsive Furniture if it couldn’t turn into a comfortable chair.
Luckily, learnings from early prototypes helped him walk this tricky tightrope. Enabling James to optimize the height, the angle and what foam to use to achieve a supportive backrest. All together the final design balances the need for that simple minimal aesthetic with comfort for the user.