The Hole in the Chair That Tells the Truth About Innovation
Walk into any cafeteria, office, or classroom, and you’ll spot a small detail that says a lot about innovation: the horizontal cutout at the top of a wooden chair. It was designed so staff could move chairs more easily.
But look closer. One bag is on the floor. Another is sliding off the backrest after two minutes of sitting and movement. A third is occupying the next chair. Hmm. What if there were another cutout—vertical, placed at the edge—not to move chairs, but to hang a bag?
No one planned that use case. No one ran a “chair-to-bag ergonomics” study. Yet it happens everywhere—a simple adaptation (an anomaly) solving a real un(der)served problem.
And there it is—an improvised solution to a real struggle. It’s not about the chair. It’s about what people are trying to get done.
That’s the essence of Jobs to Be Done (JTBD). Innovation doesn’t come from refining the object itself. It comes from noticing what people actually do with it—and how they bend design to fit their needs.
The trap of inside-out innovation
Most companies start with the product. They ask, “How do we make the chair stronger, lighter, cheaper, or more stylish?” That’s inside-out thinking: you look at your object, polish its edges, and call it innovation.
But if you only improve the chair itself, you might miss the bigger opportunity. The user doesn’t wake up in the morning wanting a chair. They wake up wanting to sit comfortably, store their things, socialize, focus, or rest. The chair is just a means to an end.
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The bag on the chair tells us that the user’s job was not just “have a place to sit.” It was also “keep my stuff close without cluttering the floor.” If you don’t see that job, you’ll keep building slightly better chairs, while someone else invents the solution people didn’t know they were waiting for.
Observing struggles is the real R&D
The magic lies in struggles. If you want to innovate, don’t ask people what they want. Watch what they do when the current solution falls short.
Here are some struggles with chairs that point to hidden jobs:
The bag problem. Users want their belongings close, but the floor is dirty, hooks are missing, and tables aren’t designed for storage. The cutout accidentally helps. A chair with an integrated, discreet hook or pocket would do the job better.
The posture problem. Many chairs assume a single way of sitting. In reality, people fidget, lean back, cross their legs, or turn sideways. They are trying to stay comfortable during long stretches. A chair that adapts dynamically—or even encourages micro-movements—would serve this job.
The noise problem. Chairs scraping on floors in libraries, offices, or classrooms are a constant irritation. People don’t want to disturb others, but the design forces them to. Silent-glide solutions or self-adjusting feet solve a job that goes beyond “sitting” into “maintain a quiet environment.”
The collaboration problem. In team spaces, people pull chairs close together, twist them around, or form impromptu circles. The job isn’t “sit in one spot,” it’s “join and leave a group easily.” Chairs that swivel, glide, or clip together would support this better.
The accessibility problem. Many chairs are hostile to elderly people or those with reduced mobility. Getting in and out is the struggle. The hidden job is “sit down and stand up without fear or pain.” Chairs with small assistive levers or gentle spring support would solve this.
The storage problem. In crowded rooms, stacking chairs is awkward. The job is not “own a chair,” it’s “reclaim space quickly.” Better stacking mechanisms or fold-flat designs align with what users really need.
Each of these struggles is not about the object but about the job the user is trying to get done in context.
From Struggle to Opportunity
Once you start seeing struggles, you also start seeing opportunity.
The bag on the chair is not a minor anecdote. It’s a reminder that the next wave of innovation rarely comes from designers sitting in studios brainstorming features. It comes from observing real people, in real settings, hacking their way around problems.
Consider how this logic has played out elsewhere:
The cupholder in cars. Nobody asked for it in early automobile surveys. But people kept spilling drinks, wedging cups into impossible places. The job wasn’t “drive better,” it was “drink coffee on the way to work without making a mess.” Today, cupholders are a default feature worldwide.
The smartphone camera. Originally an afterthought. But users wanted to share life in the moment. The job wasn’t “make calls” but “capture and share experiences instantly.” The phone evolved accordingly, and the camera became central.
Airport seating. Once designed for throughput, not comfort. Then came the job: “kill time while waiting.” Outlets, USB ports, and modular seating arrived not because airports loved chairs but because travelers hated dead batteries.
The pattern is always the same: when you see the workaround, you’ve found the job. And when you solve the job directly, you create real innovation.
Why Most Companies Miss This
It’s tempting to blame lack of creativity, but the real issue is perspective. Most organizations optimize for efficiency, not empathy. They measure features, specs, and margins. They rarely measure how often people are forced into hacks, workarounds, or awkward rituals.
The irony? Those very hacks are where the gold lies. Every workaround is a piece of unpaid R&D that your users are doing for you. If you’re not watching, you’re throwing away free insights.
Chairs as a Metaphor for Business
The chair is not just a chair. It’s a metaphor for your entire business.
If you’re only improving your product’s “legs” and “backrests,” you’re innovating inside-out. You’re chasing incremental improvements. But if you step back and ask, “What are people really trying to get done around this object?” you move into a different arena.
The payoff is not marginal improvement. It’s category creation.
Closing the Loop
The bag on the chair is a small, almost invisible gesture. But in that gesture, you can see the DNA of innovation. Users will always try to get jobs done. When your design gets in the way, they’ll hack around it. When you notice those hacks, you’ve found your roadmap.
So the next time you see someone looping their bag through a chair cutout, don’t just see a chair. See a signal. See an unmet job. See the future.