Design story, ergonomic challenge.

A few years ago I bought my grandpa an electric shaver. He has mild Parkinson's disease therefore his hands aren't the most steady, so manual shaver was out of the question. I picked one that was easy to use. It had a slider switch and to clean it, simple squeeze the buttons on both sides and lift the cap.



Then it broke, so I went out to get a new one for him. This time, I thought Philips will be a good option. I picked a seemly simply one with a big grip. It also has a slider switch, and a release button in the middle to release the cap for cleaning. I thought this will be a no brainer.

It turned out that I was wrong.... or rather, I bet even the designers at Philips ( who I used to be one) didn't expect this design failure.

I got back and showed my grandpa how to use it and clean it. He seemed confused. Perhaps it was the new shape. Perhaps it was his Parkinson's. I don't know, but it simply could not figure out one action, which is to press the release button and lift the top cap for cleaning. He simply couldn't do it. My grandma, who's in excellent health condition, did it like any of us could, but not my grandpa. First of all, his thumb could not press precisely enough to depress the button. The button is too small for him, and takes a bit too much compression force. Next, my grandpa couldn't help but use both hands to press the button. One hand to hold the grip, the other to press the button. This means that he will need a third hand, which he doesn't have, to lift the cap once the button is pressed. Sounds complicated? It indeed was, for my grandpa at least.







We designers always want to design the most sleek and stylish designs and electric shavers have always been a product where technology is displayed with cutting edge styling. Most of the electric shavers on the market today have very precised micro blades and complicated mechanisms to wow the consumers. The displays are hidden, the buttons slush and the grips streamlined. It's like spaceships! For most of us, probably the so-called 95 percentile have no problem using this. Perhaps there are some ergonomic compromises, but none that will prevent us from using it. I also expect Philips designers and engineers to have run through human factor testing with their designs. It's just that no one thinks about testing it with a Parkinson's disease patient.

I am not saying that all products should consider all user types. That's unreasonable and unrealistic. However it also raises the need to serve people with special needs.

In the end, I went back to the store to get him another product, a even simpler design but one that broke the next day.