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I’ve written about using a standing desk; now let’s talk about building one. Commercial standing desks are ugly and overpriced. Building standing desks out of Metroshelves is a great alternative: economic, ergonomic, efficient in their use of space, robust, and flexible. Best of all, if you decide you no longer want a standing desk, its easy to reconfigure into shelving or a sitting desk.

Choosing a design: Standard or Cantilevered

There are two major designs for a standing desk: “Standard” or Cantilever. I prefer the Cantilever design, but it’s less well-balanced than the Standard design, and requires a little more care in its placement and construction.

Standard Design

The Standard Design puts the keyboard tray in front of the standing desk, and the iMac over the center of gravity of the desk. It’s the most stable design, although it’s not as comfortable or efficient in its use of space as the Cantilevered Design.

Cantilevered Design

The Cantilevered Design puts the keyboard on top of the center of gravity of the desk, and cantilevers a shelf off the back for the iMac. This is a great design for desks which face windows or exterior walls; because the shelf is offset off the back, it can sit above an air conditioner or HVAC system that ring exterior walls in many offices, saving space. Because the keyboard surface is above the footrest, it’s also a bit more comfortable. It is imperative that a cantilevered desk is secured, either by leaning it directly against a wall or setting a counterweight on the base, or both. Failing to do so may tip the desk over, sending your beautiful and expensive iMac crashing to the floor. CANTILEVER AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Materials Needed

4 Rods. I like to mix a pair of short rods in the front with a pair of long rods in the back.
4 Shelves. 36in shelves are a little tight pairing situations where you’ll sit two people abreast, but they work. 48in are nice and roomy. From top to bottom, you’ll need:
Monitor shelf
Storage Shelf
Keyboard Shelf
Foot Shelf

In a Standard design, the Keyboard Shelf will connect to 2 rods; the others connect to all 4 rods.
In a Cantilever design, the Monitor Shelf will connect to 2 rods; the others connect to all 4 rods.

4 Wheels. Mobility is your friend. Buy two plain and two locking casters; the locking ones should go diagonal from each other.
3 Surfaces. I like wooden butcher blocks, but you may also find plastic.
1 rubber mallet (or hiking boot) for assembly.
A counterweight (required for a Cantilever desk; encouraged for a Standard desk)

The Build

Screw the wheels into the bottom of each rod
On all four rods, clip a plastic collar onto the bottom notch, and send them through the first shelf. This will be the Foot Shelf. It’s easiest to do this by putting the narrow edge of the shelf on the floor and sliding the rods through while they’re still parallel to the floor.
Flip everything up from the floor so the four rods and one shelf are sitting on the wheels.
On all four rods, clip the next collar about 28 notches from the bottom (you might want to modify depending on your height). Put the next shelf on. This will be the Utility Shelf.
Place the butcher block on the Utility Shelf—it may be hard to get it on after you add other shelves.

Building a Standard Desk

On the front two rods only, clip the a collar directly about the Utility Shelf. Slide the next shelf only on the front two rods, so it overhangs in front of the rest of the unit. This will be the Keyboard Shelf.
On all four rods, clip the next collar about 39 notches from the bottom (you might want to modify depending on your height). Put the next shelf on. This will be the Monitor Shelf.

You’re done!

Building a Cantilevered Desk

Follow steps 1-5 from above. Then:

On all four rods, clip the next collar about 5 notches above the Utility Shelf; this will be the Keyboard Shelf. Set the height so that your arms will be at a 90 degree angle when typing. Don’t forget the butcher block will add another ~inch of height.
On the back two rods only, clip the a collar about 39 notches from the bottom; this will be the Monitor Shelf. Set the height so that your head will be level when looking at the center of the monitor. Slide the shelf only on the back two rods, so it overhangs behind the rest of the unit.
Ideally, place the desk so that the Monitor Shelf is in direct contact with a wall, preventing it from tipping over.
Put a counterweight on the Foot Shelf before loading the Monitor Shelf. If you don’t counterweigh the desk, it will fall backwards, potentially injuring you or wrecking your equipment.

You’re done!

So many of my colleagues have some degree of trouble with their
hands/wrists/arms. It’s a serious occupational hazard. Agile coding is a slightly different ballgame for me in terms of wrist problems.

My physical therapist for my first, worst episode — the episode that
left me with permanent nerve damage, nearly 20 years ago now –
stressed to me that damage is cumulative. Young coders can think
they’re invulnerable, but I’m here to preach to you: the pain can end
up being permanent. If it hurts to type, stop typing — please don’t do what I did, viz., shrug and keep going.

In the Agile/pair programming world the setup for workstations tends
to be a flat table, no special equipment, so that workstations are
interchangeable. No keyboard trays, nothing — not the best ergonomically. Here’s how I cope:

I have a great chair, an armless ZackBack (um, yes, I’ve written my name on it in big black letters, why do you ask?). Posture can be really important to keeping your arms healthy.
I use a flat keyboard, with as light a touch as possible — Macally is working well for me.
I put the keyboard in my lap, which creates a better angle for me.
Alas, sometimes it maketh my typing to suck, but usually it’s okay.
I use two alternative mice: a Roller Mouse for clicking and most steering, and a pen mouse for the rest of the steering. It’s best for my hands if I use both of them to mouse at once. Clicking with the pen mouse once caused a flareup, and the roller mouse gets a little wild for precision steering, which means I put my hand in a bad position trying to control it. I used to use a foot mouse, and I recommend that too if you don’t mind a loud clomping sound every time you click. High learning curve with the steering, but great low-impact clicking. My fabulous former boss Lynne Cameron thought of it. (Miss you, Lynne!)
I turn on Sticky Keys, which means I don’t have to hold multiple keys at once. Unfortunately, it can be hard on my pair if we forget to turn it off. Sorry, folks. Think of it as a variant of Dvorak. Note that it’s a good idea to disable the “beep when a modifier key is turned on” option if you value your sanity, and enable “Press shift five times to turn on or off”. (Also that, arghh, the new Apple keyboard goes a little berserk with Sticky Keys turned on. The arrow keys don’t work at all, for example.)
I make sure the monitor (we’re an all-iMac shop) is on a riser or phone book or something so that the top of the screen is level with my eyes. Bent neck equals bad posture.

All these help to make the setup sustainable for me. The other thing
about pairing that makes sense ergonomically is, of course, the fact
that your hands get a break whenever your pair is typing (if you ever
let them type — I am a confirmed keyboard hog, but I’m trying to mend my ways!).

Just one more wrist hazard of agile coding: all the self-applauding and high-fiving — paired code is so much better than code written solo.

How do you cope with your wrist limitations?

Pivotal Labs

How to Build an Awesome, Affordable, Flexible Standing Desk using Metroshelves