The contour u of the progressive addition lens (PAL) surface is designed to obtain a PAL whose near visual area is obviously expanded and the progressive channel length is decreased. The PAL is designed symmetrically. The curve of u at meridian line is set as the boundary conditions of the Laplace equation, and the specific form of the boundary conditions is given. Combined with the natural boundary condition, the analytic solution of the Laplace equation is solved using the separation of variables method and the Fourier transform method. The design example shows that this design method not only expands the wide range of near zone visible area of PAL, but also shortens the progressive channel length. The design data are processed actually, and the PAL obtained is tested and analyzed. The results show that the design and the actual test results are basically consistent.