Shadowing:
- Pouring a Drink
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- I practiced pouring drinks with one hand into a plastic and glass cup. I found that using lighter cups that weren’t as stable tends to cause difficulty in pouring and potential tipping. This could cause spills but using a heavier cup (glass) was safe and easy to do. There was an issue with spilling that usually happened right as the user goes to pour out of the pitcher and before they can correct themselves in order to keep the liquid from spilling on the counter. I could see that over time a user would get better and better at pouring with one hand and would not need much assistance.
- Using Ketchup, Mustard, etc.
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- Using ketchup and hot sauce was a medium level task. I practiced using a plate with lines drawn to track accuracy and found that it only takes one hand to use condiments but controlling quantity takes practice. The condiments were fairly easy to open with one hand but could become stuck and cause a one-handed user to exert more energy to open. Trying to draw in a straight line, simulating a hot dog or sandwich, was very easy. Although it is easy to be accurate when squeezing, using a single hand to moderate pressure of squeezes caused a varying level in thickness of botch ketchup and mayonnaise. The line got better over time but I was not able to draw a solid straight line like is possible with two hands. Closing each condiment was simple with the assistance of a flat surface.
- Taking a pan in/out of oven:
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- Difficulty stabilizing pan and the weight of the pan was more than expected. Make sure you don’t add too much weight to the pan and do you best to center items
- Cracking an Egg:
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- Was difficult to keep shell out of the yolk after cracking. Felt as if the egg exploded in my hand. Try to crack the egg clean and split open carefully
- Opening a Jar:
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- It was almost impossible to open the jar on a flat surface. I found it easiest to either put it into between your legs or under your arm and open it that way
- Cutting Vegetables:
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- Difficult balancing circular shaped vegetable (onion). With only one hand in use, it was impossible to stabilize the onion.
- Cutting Meat
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- Difficult keeping the meat in place. If it were a meat tougher than a hot dog like a steak or pork, it would be nearly impossible. There needs to be a utensil to keep the meat in place.
- Opening a Can:
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- Once the can opener clamped down it is hard to keep it there when your other hand is needed for twisting so the can opener will rotate.
- Washing Dishes
- Washing dishes made the process of applying soap to a sponge much more lengthy since I had to lay the sponge down in order to do it. Also, it was hard to stabilize the dish while scrubbing, and made it impossible to scrub hard
- Mixing Ingredients in a Bowl
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- Without the use of a second hand, stabilizing the bowl when mixing more dense ingredients was much more difficult. The bowl slid across the counter top as I tried to mix causing wasted time and energy. Using a glass or metal bowl could cause damage to counter surfaces and could even cause the the bowl to tip over if mixing dough. The more ingredients, the tougher it gets to make a consistent mix with one hand. An automated mixer is a possible solution but requires much more cleaning and would only be viable on bigger projects. A hand mixer or whisk could help but would not be able to anchor the bowl down to mix thick ingredients.
- Salt/Pepper Grinders
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- Grinders made for a big challenge since the twisting motion is nearly impossible to do with one hand. Even when I managed to get pepper out, it went everywhere since it was so hard to handle
- Drying Dishes
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- There was major difficulty drying dishes due to not being able to stabilize the plate. Since the plate wasn’t stable as I was wiping, I couldn’t wipe the dish off efficiently or well.
- Making Spaghetti
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- Measuring out the amount of spaghetti you wanted was tough unless you wanted the whole pack. Filling the pot full of water and setting on stove was easy, while cooking the pasta seemed very doable.
- Making Cereal
- When it comes to the process of making cereal with only a couple ingredients and a few sets to fulfill in order to enjoy this food it is almost a go to for people with one arm to make in the morning for breakfast.
- Making a Sandwich
- A sandwich is one of the most common foods for people to have for lunch, however making it with one hand can be a new challenge on itself. When doing the task we noticed that trying to grab the cheese and meat out of their zip tight packages created more work than expected.
Background Research:
Some Solutions Found:
- Buy pre-prepared foods
- Use non-slip mats on the work-top/table surface
- Put liquids such as oil or sauces into pump-dispensers or flip-lid plastic bottles
Statistics:
- “Among those living with limb loss, the main causes are vascular disease (54%) including diabetes and peripheral arterial disease, trauma (45%), and cancer (less than 2%)”
- Lifetime Healthcare costs are ~$148,000 more for people missing a limb
- Around 185,000 people a year deal with some sort of amputation
- African Americans are 4 times as likely to experience an amputation as White Americans
- Estimated in 2015 that a bionic arm costs around 30,000 British Pounds which is around $37,000.
– Hard to access for many people – already paying other medical bills
Products Currently on the Market?
- EZ Off jar Opener
- One handed can opener
- All in one cutting board
- Vegetable Cutter
Marketing these Products:
- An important part of having these products is making sure they are seen by the people there made for. This is crucial so that the people who can benefit from these products see them. Thus, having a little less to worry about in what they can’t do in their daily life
Non-Product Solutions:
- Recommended that when mixing in a bowl, put the bowl into a corner to avoid turning
- Use other utensils creatively (use a pizza cutter as a knife)
Areas of Opportunity:
- Opening a jar and other twisting motions are a big area of opportunity since the motion is nearly impossible to do with one hand and is very common in the kitchen. Trying to find another body part to help complete this task was also very difficult
- Cracking an egg with one hand was especially hard since we were able to crack it (more like crush it), but had a very hard time keeping the shell out of the yolk.
- Cutting vegetables was a hard task due to the issue of keeping the vegetable still. When we went to cut it, it would slide or move around. Finding something to keep the vegetable still would be ideal for this task.
- For making spaghetti cooking and filing the pot with water and pasta seemed doable. The one thing I would see as an opportunity is better system of measuring out the pasta so it is easier for people who don’t want to cook the whole box worth of pasta.
- Mixing ingredients in a bowl caused problems as the bowl had a tendency to slide around while mixing was being done.
- Pouring a drink from the fridge into a cup had a similar issue to mixing ingredients in a bowl. There is not a proper way to keep a light cup still when pouring. If liquid hits the side of a plastic cup when pouring, the cup may tip over and spill.
- Using condiments isn’t particularly hard with a single hand. Yet, the quantity of condiment used when squeezing the bottle can be overwhelming. There is an opportunity to improve quality of life and to lessen waste when using squeezable/bottled condiments.
With the rise of meal delivery services, more and more opportunity comes from the meal prepping business. Prepped meals can come pre-cut, measured, and ready to cook with minimal effort and waste. Along with pre-cooked meals, the delivery industry offers people with disabilities a great way to enjoy a fresh meal each day.
References:
Jennifer Griffin on Managing a Kitchen as an Amputee
The Best Meal Kit Delivery Services in 2019 – CNET