What I made
Apoio ativo is a stirring tool created to fit comfortably in the hand of a person with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. It's a three-pronged whisk made from silicone, designed to both scrape and stir at the bowl when mixing ingredients.
How I did it
9 steps · click any image to enlargeCupcake baking
We started by putting ourselves in the consumer's place. We baked while keeping our fingers stiff to experience the real struggle of cooking with rheumatoid arthritis, studying how difficult each step was, from simply opening the box all the way to frosting the cupcakes.
Ideation
I struggled most with the stirring process, so from there I created multiple variations of mixing tools.
Iteration
I made three models that show different ways to solve problems people with rheumatoid arthritis face when baking: one to help remove a cap, one to assist with mixing and pouring, and a reinvented mixing tool.
Comparison
I wanted to reinvent the way a whisk works, combined with other mixing tools, to better help the action of mixing. The three prongs are made to scrape at the bowl's edge, formed in silicone to mold to any shape. The thickness of each prong is designed to fold and mix like a standard whisk.
Handle iterations
I explored different handle types to find what works for people with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis: what's both comfortable and easy to hold onto when mixing. I went back to the drawing board because I hadn't found the best handle yet. I wanted a more unique shape that still fit perfectly in the hand and followed its natural resting position.
Whisk iterations
I experimented with variations of the whisk portion: lengthening the prongs, widening the shape, and changing its height and form slightly. Then, keeping the height and width I found best, I pushed different prong thicknesses.
Chosen direction
Number three was the most popular; it was the preferred grip of the variants. Most agreed that the width of the second was best suited for people with arthritis, while the first had the best height, so I combined the three in the final iteration. The variants were tested by teachers, students, and my grandmother, who had arthritis.
Refinement
I adjusted the most liked of the three shapes to better fit someone with arthritis, changing the handle's height, width and shape slightly, and moved forward with the whisk type that seemed most feasible. My prototype models were made from gray foam and 3D prints.
Final
The final model has a smooth, fluid shape, an easy grip, and a new way of mixing. It's made of hard plastic and silicone to mold to your hand or the bowl, allowing for pain-free, easy mixing.
Why I care about this
Rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation or degeneration of joints, with pain, stiffness, swelling and reduced range of motion. My goal was a mixing tool that doesn't only help the hold, with an easy grip and less wrist movement to avoid pain, but also changes how someone stirs, folds and whisks when cooking.
I chose the whisk because after personal research and hands-on experimenting, I found that mixing was the most difficult part of baking. It's designed to be held so the mixing movement comes mostly from the arm and not the wrist, to cause less strain. I hope a refined model like this can help wrist function for people with arthritis when they mix.