Versus Arthritis
Working with Versus Arthritis, we had a brief set out to design a handle. This was an abstract brief; be it the handle of a product or to handle a situation, it was fully open to creativity, and so... I decided to take it literally.
Grab is for people who suffer from Arthritis in the hands giving them poor dexterity, most commonly diagnosed as Rheumatoid Arthritis which is what I focused on in this project. The Grab handle is designed as a universal tool, crafted to help remove any sort of medical stigma, and can be used in many different scenarios. From helping around the home opening heavy doors, fridges and cabinets, to helping carry heavy bags or items etc, it is for whenever the user feels they need it throughout the day.
Throughout this project I worked with Versus Arthritis to gain some feedback and direction, and learnt a lot more in depth detail about Arthritis and how it affects day to day life. I also worked closely with my own mother, who has severe Rheumatoid Arthritis in her fingers. Working with one person made it easy for me to continuously feed back and gain insights along the way, but most importantly helped me find a place to start in the beginning. Carrying out some simple interview questions helped me find what struggles she faces every day, and finding that there are so many small tasks which don’t have aids designed for them because they seem insignificant is what inspired me to tackle handles in the most literal sense; I wanted to design one aid that helps with them all.
As well as this, I completed some extensive desk research on Arthritis in the early stages of this project, and also visited the Dundee Independent Living Centre to get some first hand experience on how people may cope in day to day life when they suffer from Arthritis or similar conditions. This helped push my ideation and development forward with the grab handle; you can see some of the early stage sketches below.
Following my numerous research methods, I decided that the main feature of this product was for it to have a large, naturally inspired forme which fits snuggly in the hand and doesn’t require any strain or much grip to hold. I started by sketching up ideas for this, looking at the form and thinking about the most accessible ways in which it would be held. Shapes that inspired my sketches included tennis balls, pebbles, computer mice and mushrooms.
Thereafter, I developed some low fidelity prototypes out of grey foam and modelling clay to work out the best dimensions for the product and how to best curve a natural shape suitable for the hand. Whilst doing this I also experimented with some varying shapes other than just a natural curve, like if it was more comfortable to hold an elongated shape with a hook on it. All of these prototypes shared the commonality of having the ‘hook’ as part of the main shaft, which was a design choice at first as it made the product more compact. However, it meant during use, the product required you to get closer to the handle you’re grabbing and at a sometimes inaccessible angle which may require some unnecessary strain.
When it came to manufacturing the final prototype, I opted for a symmetrical round shape to make the grab fully adaptable to every hand, situation and product. On top of this, I wanted the product to have a luxe feel to it as most common arthritic aids are plastic, white and grey, so the aim here was to avoid that medical stigma and make a 'nice' accessory. Turned from one piece of Oak wood with a rubber accented grip, the final prototype of this handle provides a large round surface area for users to hold, putting much less strain on the fingers and bones as they wrap around the large area to help complete any day to day task.
Throughout the process of creating Grab, I was continuously feeding back to my mother for an opinion on the aesthetics, form and function. I referred to her when it was nearing completion to see if she found the grip comfortable and if it would help in the tasks she found difficult during our initial research. Once completed, I then took the final product back to her: “It looks really nice, I’d probably leave it out as if it were an ornament when I’m not using it.” - as for using it, she said: “It helps when doing wee things like picking it up by the fridge and pulling the freezer with it, cause that one is stiff.” Whilst being helpful in situations like this, she did say that she would be unlikely to take it out or use it too often because it's quite bulky and not practical in that sense; which upon reflection I do agree with, as form was put over function when it came to avoiding that medical stigma with this product.
