In order to better understand the struggles and challenges of completing daily chores with one hand, each team member attempted to complete three tasks related to cleaning chores with one hand. Below are the tasks we completed along with the content and notes that were taken during each task. In addition, we also shadowed one person who only had the use of only one hand and added their experience and feedback to our documentation.
Immersive Tasks:
- Cleaning a Coffee Table
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- Notes/Feedback: This task was not extremely difficult to do when it came to actual action of wiping down the coffee table. The only part that took more effort was getting the table cleared off before with one hand as it took more time than it would with 2 hands.
- Dusting Shelves
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- Notes/Feedback: Same as the wiping off the coffee table; dusting the tv stand was only difficult when it came to clearing the area in prep to actually begin the action.
- Organizing
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- Notes/Feedback: This took the most effort when it came to cleaning the living room. Organizing the TV stand and cord management was a lot of effort. Untangling cords with one hand was a lot more work, because you could now pull the cords apart. It was more holding the cords with my foot and having to pull them apart one by one that way. As well as wrapping the cords around my hand so they are in an organized fashion. It was more holding the cords down with my foot, and then wrapping with my hand; but once it was wrapped my hand it took a lot of effort to get the cord off my hand.
- Cleaning the Windows
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- Notes: Over compensated by using excessive window cleaner because I was uncertain how impactful my single hand wipe would be on the window. It may have been more productive to rethink how to use only one hand to complete the job. Paper towel roll fell on the floor due to tearing without supporting the rest of the body.
- Doing laundry
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- Notes:
- Not too hard loading and unloading the washer at the dryer
- Some difficulty unscrewing the cap of the laundry detergent
- Helped to use a flat surface to support the bottle as I screw on the cap
- One of the garments were tangled in the dryer but wasn’t too difficult to correct
- Notes:
- Cleaning Lint Trap
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- Notes:
- Some difficulty keeping the trap stationary while cleaning it
- Notes:
- Folding Clothes (no feat. J Cole)
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- Notes:
- Quite the difficult task to complete neatly with one hand
- Took longer to layout clothes “neatly” in order to fold them
- A lot more noticeable creases and clunky folds
- Re-tucking pants pockets was difficult
- Hard to keep pants stationary while pushing pockets back
- Very difficult to “zip-up” clothes
- Had to use abstract methods to “start” the zipper and pull the zipper to the opposite end
- Difficulty present when tucking socks
- Had to utilize the entire hand and fingers
- The best method was to use the thumb to hold the “lip” of the sock and use the rest of the fingers to pull the socks inward
- Had to utilize the entire hand and fingers
- Notes:
- Refilling Coffee/Sugar/Flour Jars
Feedback: Picking up a sack of flour is difficult with one arm. I spent the majority of the photos trying to balance and pick up the flour with one hand. Once I actually picked up the flour, it was easy to pour into the jar. The jar had a latch the could be opened and closed with one hand, but it was pretty tough to close because it had 3 different parts to the latch. It was also hard to lock the latch and press the lid of the jar down with one hand.
- Rearranging Patio Chairs
Feedback: I used my knees to compensate for my other arm, and because of that, my knees hurt more than my actual arm. I pulled the chair on my leg with my free arm/hand and then I scooted the chair in with my knee.
- Making Bed (Fixing Blanket)
Feedback: Making a bed with one arm was not difficult. It was more tedious because it took longer to spread the blanket with one arm. I did this by picking up the blanket, corner by corner, and throwing it across the bed. In order to straighten the blanket, I just pulled down the sides. If I tried to do this with a sheet, I think that would have been impossible.
- Vacuuming
Feedback: While backward and forward motion was not challenging turning and maneuvering the vacuum into spaces and upstairs was very difficult with the use of one arm. The vacuum is a bulky and heavy object to be handled with one arm. We noted that accessories like hoses and brushes are helpful but not all vacuums have those and even those that do it can be difficult to get to them with one hand.
- Cleaning dishes / Loading dishwasher
Feedback: With use of one hand/ arm there is no secure way to hold the dish while scrubbing it. I found laying it in the sink worked but there is nothing preventing it from sliding around and this made the task very tedious. When going to load it into the dishwasher it was significantly more effort to put the dish in when the rack was crowded and needed some rearranging.
- Sweeping
Feedback: Sweeping although tedious was not impossible to do with one arm. Using a dust pan was challenging as nothing secured it in place/ to the floor so sweeping into the pan was often inefficient or required several attempts.
- Cleaning the Stove:
Feedback: This task was broken down into parts, including: cleaning the stove top, taking out stove top, cleaning the crumb pan, and replacing all the items. Most of the task were able to be completed with one hand pretty efficiently. The difficulty came with cleaning the crumb pan. If placed on the counter or left in the stove, the pan spun as it was wiped. A second hand would have provided more stability.
- Organizing shoes:
Feedback: This task was fairly easy to complete with one hand as both shoes in a pair could be held with one hand. Two hands would help with efficiency or if picking up a pair of longer boots/different style of shoe.
- Cleaning the Refrigerator:
Feedback: This task was a bit tedious to complete with one hand due to the fact that a refrigerator is large and requires many sprays of cleaning solvent. This requires someone with a single hand to use to put down their rag/paper towel every time they need to spray. Also if the drawers are pulled out of the fridge for easier access, one has to use their body, backsplash, or another solid surface to stabilize the drawer to efficiently scrub any debris.
Shadowing:
We were also able to shadow a user that injured their bicep. Due to surgery, they could only complete tasks with the use of one arm.
(The images above give us a better idea of our user’s arm brace.)
- Cleaning out a Semi-Deep Freezer
User’s Feedback: This task was slightly difficult because he had to depend on one arm the entire time. Depending on how much food you have to throw out of the freezer, your arm can get tired faster. One thing that made this task easier for our user, was that his dominant arm was not in his brace and he did not have to adjust to using his non-dominant arm.
- Hanging a Shirt on a Hanger
User’s Feedback: Surprisingly this task was a lot easier to accomplish than he anticipated. Our user stated that the hanger was an “extension” that allowed him to pick up the shirt and hold it in place with one end of the hanger. Once one side of the shirt was supported by a hanger’s end, he was also able to “drop” one end of the hanger and slide the non-supported side of the shirt onto the hanger.
- Rearranging Pillows/Cushions on the Couch
User’s Feedback: Similarly to the freezer example, this task was slightly difficult because he had to depend on one arm the entire time. The weight of the pillows determined whether his arm would get tired. The smaller pillows were easy to throw onto the couch, but the larger couch cushions were harder to pick up with only one arm. One thing that made this task easier for our user, was that his dominant arm was not in his brace and he did not have to adjust to using his non-dominant arm.