Generally, I’m not a big fan of a lot of the things geared specifically toward women, i.e., Lifetime’s Television for Women or “chick lit” but a recent discovery of a chair custom-designed by Monica Förster [http://www.monicaforster.se/] for the unique sitting habits of women is another story.

A man and a woman might have the same job but how they sit while doing it is really quite different. Women typically lean forward or sit perched on the front of their seats (like I do!) while men often slouch against their backrests. You may not be surprised to learn that the sort of bird-like perching increases one’s risk for back pain. So what to do?

Well, Förster, who has designed for Cappellini and Poltrona Frau, among other companies, created “Lei.” It's a chair for Swedish manufacturer, Officeline [http://officeline.se/], that features an innovative back cushion that supports the lumbar region as its user moves backward and forward in her seat. Lei (which means “her” in Italian) is sized to female proportions. In an interview with Metropolis magazine, Förster explains  how her team “shortened the length of the armrests so they wouldn’t get in the way when you want to get close to a work surface”…and “by placing the arms in the back rather than the side, we created more room for larger hips.”

A decade ago, a “women’s” office chair most likely would have been a pink Aeron. It’s refreshing to see this kind of needs inspired by the user design coming to the marketplace.