Common design practices for everyday objects tend to assume physiologically average users. Snug is a tableware design that meets the needs of arthritis patients with the help of findings from occupational therapy and ergotherapy.
2021
Images: Müller, Alexandra und Klein, Steffen (2019): Faltblatt Rheumatoide Arthritis, Bonn: Deutsche Rheuma-Liga Bundesverband e.V., S. 2.
Images: Gruber, A.A.J. und Donhauser-Gruber, U. (Hrsg.) (2013): Rheuma: Thieme, S. 212f.
Arthritis patients have no less strength than healthy people. However, when they have to interact with objects that do not suit their needs, they reach a pain threshold before they can fully utilize their strength.
In occupational therapy, people suffering from arthritis are advised to grasp objects with a hook grip or key grip. These grips remain pain-free for the longest time as the disease progresses, as they avoid compressing inflamed joints. In Germany, the interests of sufferers are represented by the German Rheumatism League (Deutsche Rheuma-Liga e.V.). The association supported the design of the tableware series by providing contacts and information material.
The amorphous shapes reduce the necessary movement dimensions to a minimum and distribute the load for each interaction evenly across all the joints involved. The stoneware ceramic also sets the tableware apart from typical medical products in terms of its aesthetics and supports the sign function and grip thanks to the unglazed contact surfaces.
The minimalist shape also combines other requirements of the target group, such as wall heights and wall angles that distribute the joint deflections required when drinking or using cutlery equally over the shoulder, elbow and wrist, or the overhang of the bowl wall, which makes it easier to slide food onto a spoon.
If all members of the household can use the same tableware, nobody has to feel strange. The design of Snug shows how taking into account the needs of a user group with disabilities can lead to a design that also enables healthy users to use it more comfortably.
