Strength Test Passed & the Office Walker Oreo Edition
First impressions of the black frame
I wanted to share the first photos of the black frame since about a week already but somehow didn't manage to. I also didn't manage to swap out the slat covers for the black ones yet. So here you can see the Office Walker Oreo edition. I didn't do the greatest job with the stain, but I think it gives a decent first impression.
Durability Test Update
Good news first: before the actual durability test started, the prototype already went through a strength test and everything passed with flying colors. No issues, no weak spots, nothing. The Office Walker held up exactly as designed.
The durability test itself kicked off this week. I received a video from the test lab showing the prototype under load. The wheel simulates a 150 kg load, and the plan is to let it run for 20,000 km. Let's see if it can withstand that.
Product Improvements
While the test is running, I'm not sitting still. I've been working on a few small but meaningful product improvements.
One thing I noticed is that there's sometimes a slight pinching sensation when your foot pushes a slat back. I believe this is caused by the gap between slats slightly opening and closing as they travel over the top curve. The gap is already relatively wide (4-5 mm), so I asked the slat manufacturer if they can extend the mold for the slat cover a bit. A slight reduction of the exposed gap combined with rounding the edges should make a noticeable difference.
I've also started producing more frames with small tweaks to continue testing reproducibility. I already mentioned this in the last update: making sure the good results from the latest prototype aren't a one-off is really important before scaling up.
Manufacturer Discussions
Discussions with the manufacturer of the wooden side panels are taking longer than expected. It looks like they miscalculated their first offer and now want to increase the price. They're also saying that the thick plywood I need is a bit hard to source at the moment. Let's see how this develops. The price increase would hurt, but it's not a dealbreaker.
Production Space - Almost There
Some of you might remember that I was close to getting access to the production rooms. Well, there's been a small hiccup: there was an issue with the beneficiary listed on the guarantee certificate (Urkunde), and it needs to be corrected. That'll probably take another week or two.
The good news is that the landlord has been really accommodating and will hand over the keys next Friday even before the corrected certificate arrives. So I'll finally be able to get in there and start setting things up.
Community Spotlight: Walking Desk Study Needs Participants
One more thing and this one is for the experienced walking desk users among you.
A member of our community, a master's student at Hochschule Trier in Germany, is researching how walking on a treadmill desk affects mouse accuracy during office tasks. It's a really interesting topic and very relevant to what we're building here. The problem is: finding participants with actual walking desk experience isn't easy.
If you're 18+, own a walking or treadmill desk, and can spare about 15 minutes, I'd love for you to help out. You can participate online from home or the office using your own setup. It's just two short games testing clicking and drag-and-drop accuracy. No accounts or personal data needed, and everything is hosted in Germany.
The study currently has only 7 participants and needs at least 20, so every single one matters. Here's the link: https://walkingdesk.hci-dev.hochschule-trier.de/
That's it for this round. As always, thanks for your patience and support!