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How a Woman With No Arms Dresses Herself. What Assistance Can Design Provide?

By Rain Noe - September 17, 2012

in Object Culture

This is absolutely eye-opening. In an earlier post we showed you wheelchairs designed for wheelchair-unfriendly environments, and because most of us have seen wheelchair users in real life or on TV, we have at least a vague idea of what those without the use of their legs have to go through. But here we have a video of a woman with no arms showing you how she dresses herself every morning, a procedure I had zero concept of:

Take a good look at that device Tisha's using, a metal rod with a hook on the end:

She mentions that she's had it covered in aquarium tubing acquired at a pet store to make it a bit more "squishy," i.e. ergonomic. Which got me thinking: The video you just saw was less than five minutes, but after watching it, I bet you can already think of ways to improve upon Tisha's device. Think of the design questions popping up in your head: Is that hook the optimum shape? Is it too sharp, in case she misses and contacts her skin with the hook, or is the metal unpleasantly cold? Does the rod need to be straight, or would it be better if it had a slight arc to it at the end? Does the rod need to be cylindrical in cross-section to fit between her toes, or would a slightly elliptical cross-section provide better purchase and maneuverability? The upper part that Tisha manipulates between her chin and collarbone, is it optimally shaped? How and where does she store the device, and how does she typically retrieve it and put it back?

I hope that more folks with disabilities make videos like this, not just to share with others what their particular trials are, but to enable us designers to improve upon the objects they use.

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Michael D. Hall

12 years ago

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Y'know. After watching the hook in action for zippers and buttons I question the wisdom of gnashing my fingers into stuck zippers or uncooperative buttons ever again. Thanks for sharing.
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TWKW

12 years ago

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After repeatedly viewing this video, I now realize how insignificant my daily problems are. Thank you for a much-needed reality check.
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jeremy newman

12 years ago

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Ergonomics aside, just plain impressive!
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Goldy Safirstein

12 years ago

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One of the most frustrating things is when products are available or easily produced yet are not available to people who need them. When my wife's grandmother was in a nursing home (and in a wheelchair) I noticed that the furniture in the rooms was almost impossible for her to access. It would have been so easy to change if only the owners had the perspective of someone in a wheelchair.
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rose mary

12 years ago

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You should publish her videos about how she drives her car, get a shower, doing make up or making sandwiches. Maybe it could influence on cosmetics packaging and design of other devices. It would be intresting to design series of products for people who use their feet as hands, beacause as already metioned, users as her have problems with feet(must be painful deformation) due to not ergonomic handles and packaging. By the way she is a graphic designer, I would be courious if her designs are as amazing as her everyday life :)
Now I consider to make my diploma with ergonomic design to use with feet, I just felt I made good decision to choose Tools and workenvironment design studio for my diploma. This is a gauntlet I need to pick up. :)
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Jaineel

12 years ago

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Superb !
We need more articles and videos like this to inspire and ignite our creative brains !
Probably on different topics than disability too, like packaging, ergonomics, non-user friendly products too..
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Ed Charlwood

12 years ago

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You should watch how Tommy Edison cooks
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