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Haworth Zody Task Chair Review

Posted by John Pastor • July 21, 2008 • Printer-friendly • Feed •

haworth zody 1 Haworth Zody Task Chair Review

It's always been hard for me to find the perfect office chair after testing out the Think chair from Steelcase last year. I came across the Zody chair from Haworth just a few months ago, and it just might be the chair for you.

You probably haven't heard of Haworth unless you work for an office design place or a cubicle designer, but the Zody is great for work and home. The Zody is available in eight different colors, and one is perfect for you.

Lumbar support system on Zody.

Lumbar support system on Zody.

I've been testing this chair for the past three or four months and it's been awesome. Ever since I switched to this chair, I simply cannot move back to the cheap Office Depot chairs of yesterday. According to the company, it's the first chair to have a passive pelvic support and asymmetrical lumbar support system.

It's also the first task chair to be endorsed by the American Physical Therapy Association and the first task chair to be certified as a Cradle to Cradle Gold product. What does this all mean? It means this is a great chair, from a comfortability standpoint and an environmental standpoint. 77% of the chair is made up of steel and aluminum, two of the most recyclable materials on this planet, and 98% of the chair is recyclable.

Being a green nut, the chair is assembled using 100% renewable wind energy, equal to planging 194 acres of mature trees. This is a big plus in my book. The lumbar support allows you to achieve varying amounts of support on either the left or right side just by rotating the handle up or down. The arms are also adjustable in four different ways: in/out, forward/backward, up/down, and pivot left/right.

From a build quality view, Haworth didn't cut corners on making this chair both functional and eco-friendly, but there was a little wiggle action going on in the chair pad, which became loose after about a month of day-to-day use.

I know this review looks like a bunch of marketing terms, but believe me, this chair could very well be a strong competitor to the Steelcase Think. Find the Haworth Zody at Sit4Less.com starting at just $549.99, it's well worth the price.

Pros

  • Eco-friendly.
  • Extremely comfortable.
  • Lumbar support.

Cons

  • None.


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  • Steve
    I was in charge of a large purchase of task seating for my former employer in 2008. We evaluated about a dozen of the best units from a number of manufacturers including Haworth, Herman Miller, Allsteel, Humanscale, Steelcase, Keilhauer, Paoli and others. The tests were not the 5-minute musical chairs variety all too often used to speed the decision process. We rotated chairs and the testers had to live with them for a month at a time. The overall test took more than a year. We got all the test models in basic black to avoid skewing the results based on appearance. The testers ranged from a 4'10" woman who weighed less than 100 pounds to a 6'5" , 265 pound former hockey goalie with a bad back. While several others were highly rated, the Zody was the only one we tested that 100% of the testers liked. Once adjusted properly (and this was very important—see below) most testers did not want to give it back!

    The results were so consistent that I ended up purchasing one for my wife who has a herniated disc and other lower back problems. In two weeks of using this chair in her office, her lower back spasms all but disappeared. The transformation was amazing! Now her office mates fight over it when she is away on vacation. It is a shame her boss is too cheap to buy the entire staff this great chair.

    A note on adjustment: Once we started delivering the Zodys, we noticed that several users simply kept them in the original factory configuration. That is wrong for practically everyone. Haworth has an excellent web site that graphically explains how to adjust the chair. The instructions that come with it are fine too. The key is getting employees to follow up and actually get it right. The adjustable seat pan is one of the best features and definitely worth the small upcharge. While the adjustment procedure is more complicated than a chair like the excellent Humanscale “Freedom”, once the key adjustments are set (seat pan location, seat back tension, lumbar support location and tension, seat height) most people will be happy with them without further tinkering.

    The price for this chair is also extremely competitive. There simply is no down side to the Zody.
  • Leslie
    Just my two cents. I am using a Zody chair temporarily until my Knoll RPM chair comes in. While I have to say that the seat is quite comfortable, I am disappointed with the back angle. I have some chronic back issues and need to be able to sit up very straight and have support. The Zody chair does not have enough of an adjustment to do this. While the chair back does have a stop for complete resistance, it is at a slight angle back, and requires me to just my head forward to see the screen, placing stress on my neck muscles and cervical spine.

    So for anyone who is in need of a more flexible/adjustable chair, I think you can find one for the same or less money. Make sure you test it out in a realistic environment.
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