3. Horse Riding Gear
The case owner love horses and horseback riding. Not only is it fun, but it also helps them train their core stability. Because they are hypermobile, strengthening muscles, especially in the core, is important for their daily functioning. Although not explicitly stated as a problem area, we though there could potentially be ways to optimize the horseback riding experience. The first idea we had was an ergonomic shovel. The second idea was horseback riding saddle that has a lifted back pillar, thereby assisting the rider keep a straight up body posture while riding the horse. This could potentially prevent excess leaning back and forth, which can cause neck pain.
4. Electric Weed Extractor
One of the struggles in the case owner’s life is the presence of ragwort in the meadow where their horse’s graze. Ragwort is a poisonous plant for horses when consumed. To prevent consumption, the plant has to be extracted. To do this, the case owner has to bend over and manually get rid of the plants. This aggravated their back and neck. The idea we came up with is an electric weed extractor. It can grab hold of the ragwort and pull it out, using a button. The idea is that it is lightweight and adjustable to make using it as easy as possible. Because it is electric would also be rechargeable.
1. Rocking Bike Chair
The owner cannot ride a bicycle. This is due to the static position of the upper body it requires, similarly to sitting on a static chair behind a desk. The idea was to implement a system on a bike so that the upper body could move around. Because a rocking chair seems to work well for the case owner, the idea was to copy the rocking motion on the bike. Although not sure yet how this would work exactly, we were interested in exploring this further during the co-design session.
2. Mobile Car Seat
The case owner cannot drive cars for very long periods of time due to the static position it requires. So, this idea is meant to help add movement to the act of driving a car. The car seat would allow for additional movement of for example the legs, whilst still adhering to official safety rules and guidelines. By personalizing it to the case owner's body and preferred posture, it could also offer better neck and back support than a regular chair. This quite a difficult concept direction but could be interesting to explore further.
Concept Directions
After the second interview, more opportunities were identified. This led to some more broader thinking and ideating, and eventually 5 concept directions:
To learn more about each concept direction, keep reading or click the concept direction to jump down.
5. Poseable Laptop
One of the issues that came up multiple times is the modern laptop. Due to the framing of the laptop screen becoming smaller and smaller each year, the overall screen view is lower. This means the case owner has to look down. That, combined with the forced/static position of sitting, starts hurting after 15 minutes. This led to the idea of a laptop that has an adjustable screen. The screen can be set at any height with the special hinges. The hinges also still allow for the laptop screen to change angle. When the laptop is closed, the hinges fold outwards and act as a handle, making the whole laptop look like a little suitcase.
Because ultimately, we are not only designing ‘for’ a specific user but also ‘with’ a specific user, further ideation onto these concept directions were explored during the co-design session.