The Revo chair is a dual-purpose furniture piece designed for the third-place business setting. Revo is versatile in function, highly space-efficient, and can improve business by maximizing customer capacity in peak business hours.
The Revo chair was presented to a panel of judges including Starbucks' creative director, and was awarded third prize among all graduate-level presentations.
|| Overview
The third-place is a concept denoting a business or public place that is used to pass time away from home or office. This idea has become well-recognized due to the increasing popularity of businesses such as Starbucks. After a phase of research and observation, it became clear that Starbucks faces significant challenges to its core business because of limited seating capacities and the third-place image that leads customers to claim tables for hours at a time without purchase. Revo is a solution that provides versatility in seating, allowing Starbucks and other popular third-place locations to cater to a wide variety of customer needs, without impeding business.
|| Problem
After observing Starbucks locations, I developed four key customer archetypes. The Regular comes in several times a week, transacts, and takes his order to go. The Worker comes to focus and stays for extended periods of time. The Socializer values Starbucks as a comfortable meeting ground to visit with friends or colleagues. The Time-Killer thinks of Starbucks as an innocuous location to distract themselves while they wait for their next event. Varying customer behaviors at Starbucks demand varying seating configurations, and a resulting problem occurs when chairs are left unclaimed and unusable during peak hours. This limits the effective capacity of the Starbucks, and can cause lost sales.
“Chairs are left unclaimed and unusable during peak hours”
|| Solution
A Revo chair will never be seen as unusable to a Starbucks customer, because it works equally well as a standard chair pulled up to a table as it does a solo workspace. This allows Starbucks to effectively extend its seating capacity by allowing customers versatile seating options. Customers wishing to socialize will face each other and enjoy Revo's comfortable leather seat and backrest. Customers wishing to work individually will rotate in the seat and access a personal work surface large enough for a laptop and food. In reverse, the backrest works as a wrist rest providing an efficient but comfortable private work area.
“A Revo chair will never be seen as unusable to a Starbucks customer”
|| Process
Sketching
A portion of the sketching process, starting with broad furniture concepts, and narrowing towards the Revo's final functionality and design
Rapid Prototyping
From left: Laser-cut 1/8 scale model (1), Laser-cut 1/8 scale model (2), Functional prototype, Swivel testing, Testing prototype (1), Testing prototype (2)
3D Modeling
A selection of CAD modeling produced in SolidWorks and rendered in Keyshot - used to explore possible methods of manufacturing as well as colors, materials, and finishes
Product Development
From left: Presenting Revo concept to legendary designer Don Chadwick, Building forms for upholstery, Sourcing leathers/textiles, Shaping Revo's steel form
