Project: Survey on table use in everyday life

With this online survey (N=163, 76% students), we wanted to find out how tables are used at home. As expected, the survey hardly provides any surprising new insights, but rather confirms and quantifies mainly intuitive assumptions about the use of desks. For a majority of respondents, the desk is the most important work surface. The average desk is 160×80 cm, and the average dining table is 140×100 cm. 10% of respondents had a height-adjustable desk. The average time of use per week was about 30 hours for desks and about 10-15 hours for other tables. Just under one-third eat at their desks. While the desk is mostly (about 80%) used alone, half of the dining and kitchen tables are used alone or together. We were able to identify 65 types of items that are on tables. Most of the items are on desks, mainly pens, paper, office supplies, and books. Only twelve of the tables have a tablecloth on them. Just under 20% would like a larger table. The aforementioned uses and concerns about interactive tables provide a good basis for design decisions.

Status: finished

Runtime: 2020-06-04 - 2020-08-18

Participants: Sarah Thanner, Vitus Maierhoefer, Marie Sautmann, Philipp Huber, Clara Hilmer, Raphael Wimmer

Keywords: survey