Appliance Design - September 2007 - (Page 41) INDUSTRIAL DESIGN An oven model with bi-fold doors. In actual practice, the hot surfaces of the doors would mate, which would prevent accidental burns, and present a shelf on which to rest the food. that is a real opportunity.” Inside the home The researchers took a number of approaches to studying the elderly population. It began with personal experiences that the students had with their own family members. “We have students on the team who have grandparents and we heard personal stories about grandparents who couldn’t do something and how it was difficult to watch.” Then, gerontologists were brought in to give their input and to put the researchers directly in touch with participants. “These participants opened their homes and shared their lives with us in an unbiased and unedited way,” says Baskinger. “That is where we got the most information, by watching an 85-year-old person make tea or do laundry.” The work was revealing. In one those ranks are expected to swell in the next few years. The Baby Boomer generation is comprised of about 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964. And, this technologically savvy group has a lot of money to spend. According to a 2005 Commerce Department study, the Baby Boomers’ projected purchasing power might be as much as $2 trillion per year. Some of that money will be spent altering homes so that aging homeowners can continue to live independently in their own homes as long as possible. In their research, Baskinger says that, they met many people in their 50s who were starting to experience some physical or health problems and were will- ing to make investments in modifying their houses. “They may live in a multistory house, and are putting in wider doorways, and bigger appliances with easier access. They’re thinking, I’ve invested lot of time and money in the house, I’m not going to leave my neighborhood and go into an assisted care facility like my parents did.” For Baskinger and his students, the research may yield insights that help older consumers stay in their homes. “We can help empower people for autonomous living. Because there is such a connection between being able to wash their own clothes and cook their own meals and living independently. If we can make appliances work better for the people, case a couple had an old pair of laundry appliances. The indicators had burnt out, and the paint on the dials had worn off. They had placed notes on the unit that include operational information and warnings such as “don’t overload.” The researchers asked to be taken through the process. “We asked them how do they do it, and they said ‘I do this, this and this,’ but then they would forget a step.” The stories like this were numerous. For example, there were people on medication who couldn’t bend over to get glasses out of the dishwasher because it would make them dizzy. Those who were unsteady on their feet lost their balance as they tried to reach into the back of the stove to grab cookware. Some struggled with appliance doors that jutted to far out or with controls that were placed too high or too how the dishwasher can The dishwasher sketch highlights cing bending. more accessible by redu www.applianceDESIGN.com be made For more Information Enter 126 applianceDESIGN September 2007 41 http://www.design-concepts.com http://www.design-concepts.com http://www.appliancedesign.com
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