Core77

Yea or Nay? Deskbloks, "The World's First Modular Desk"

The concept of LEGO applied to a tech-embedded desk

By Rain Noe - October 7, 2016

in Furniture Design

This is a project whose concept is meritorious enough to look at, but problematic enough that we should talk about it. Deskbloks are a system of technology-embedded oak squares which end users are meant to assemble together into a desk. There are five varieties of these blocks, as seen below:

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The idea is that the user orders the blocks they want, then assembles the desk in a size and configuration of their choosing. Okay, that sounds nifty enough, but what will the actual UX be like? This is where I have my doubts.

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First off, the key benefit of the concept appears to be that it tackles cable management.

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The legs are even hollow, allowing one to route cables through them.

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But I'm not sure that I want to plug anything into the front or side edge of my desk (and certainly not the rear). Perhaps this is particular to me, but I have a wide desk with work taking up the full width of it, and I roll my chair left or right to address different areas at different times. Having cables sticking out of the front would get in the way for me, and I do not have access to my desk's sides.

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I find the headphone jack/speaker modules to be the most puzzling: Who wants to crawl under the desk to plug a jack in? Nor can I see any advantage in floor-facing speakers.

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The joinery method also seems problematic. The blocks appear to be user-joined with mending plates, only, on the undersides. And the blocks are made from oak to boot. This doesn't seem like a structurally-sound way to support a heavy horizontal surface, and I have little faith that your average consumer—they who apparently have trouble assembling Ikea furniture—will be able to pull this off.

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The development team is trying to get the project funded on IndieGogo. But while I laud their honesty, I do find their production woes troubling:

The process is expensive because we need to make 10-20 bloks in order to get just 1 perfect bloks. If the campaign proves to be a success, we'll be able to optimize the production and create more bloks more easily.

Starting off with a part rejection rate of 90%-95% just does not sound promising to me.

Lastly, I think that the buying process also needs to be thought through. The average consumer will probably need an online configurator, allowing them to create different assemblies while it spits out final dimensions and prices.

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I know it sounds like I'm crapping all over this project, but that's not my intent; I think the concept has some merit, but needs several rounds of really thoughtful iterations. This seems like the kind of idea that might be presented at one of those Ikea design labs, and might start to hit its stride in the fourth or fifth round of development.

So, if you were part of this development team, what changes would you make? For starters, I'd say the oak has to go in favor of an engineered wood. I'm all for natural wood desks, but not when there are multiple components meant to be fit together; the problems created by any wood movement or warping might prove insurmountable.

Your thoughts?

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Daniel Chavarria

8 years ago

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Concept seems to be very accurate to some new and also very old needs for computer desktops. i think it needs more thinking, specially on the joinery between modules, what if i like to change a module for other or change its distribution, i'll have to unscrew all plates and disarm the desk, not mentioning i'll have to clear my desk first, if that modules are not easily swapable, the modular function it's not functional anymore, i loved the idea of the hollow legs for cable managing, and i will find very useful some usb ports headphone jacket and internal speakers on my desk, i would also expect to see some drawers and there's tons of posibilities to add, like a light table for drawing or photography, reclinable table for architects, table height adjustment for the modular legs. i think it's a great idea, but the modular aspect needs to be polish, in my opinion.

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Joshua Terrell

8 years ago

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I think this kind of direction in furniture design is a step in the right direction. Cables and tables just don't look clean together, and anything to help manage the experience and minimize the visible cables is a good step. I like the ingenuity here.

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amunta nul

8 years ago

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That is one ugly and complicated coffee table, especially from the side. Why would you want a speaker in your coffee table? Why is it even modular? These components could be retrofitted to existing table tops at a MUCH lower cost of production.

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Ed Reynolds

8 years ago

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Love the concept, but then again I love anything modular. Agree they may have something but it needs some refining. As a backer, I'd be more concerned about them optimizing their production method after they're funded. I think they should have solved that prior to launching. Hopefully they have and that's part of why they need the funds, but they might want to articulate that. Wonder what shipping from Croatia would be also. The desk certainly looks solid and it can't be light. We're actually getting ready to launch a crowdfunding campaign in just a couple weeks as well for a modular furniture system that I designed. (Hoping to have something here on Core77 soon). We use baltic birch plywood which doesn't warp or swell. We looked at using different hard woods but ended up going with engineered wood because of the concerns you mentioned. Check us out, would love to get some constructive feedback as well!

www.mojuhler.com

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