Jamie Chen

I started working remotely in 2017, and within six months, my back was a disaster. I was 28, sitting on a $99 Amazon chair for 10+ hours a day, and I could barely stand up straight by Friday. That's when I fell down the rabbit hole.

I've since gone through 11 different office chairs (yes, I kept a spreadsheet), 4 standing desks, and more monitor arms than I care to admit. Some of that was personal testing, but honestly? Most of my knowledge comes from obsessive research. I spend way too much time on r/homeoffice, r/battlestations, and r/smartHome, tracking what people say about products after the honeymoon period ends.

As a software developer, I approach product research the same way I approach code reviews—skeptically. I look for patterns in complaints, cross-reference warranty issues, and pay attention to what people say at the 6-month and 1-year marks. First impressions are useless; I want to know if the motor still works after 10,000 height adjustments.

The engineering background helps with smart home stuff too. I've written custom Home Assistant integrations, debugged Zigbee mesh networks, and spent way too many hours reading API documentation for robot vacuums. When a product claims "smart" features, I actually dig into how it works—not just whether it connects to an app.

I'm based in Austin, Texas, where I work from a home office I've rebuilt three times. My current setup is finally dialed in—FlexiSpot desk, Secretlab chair, triple monitor arms, and a robot vacuum that runs every night so I don't have to think about it. When I'm not researching ergonomic equipment, I'm probably tinkering with Home Assistant automations or building mechanical keyboards I don't need.