Lena Lorentzen, Industrial Designer, Nordic Design for All Centre
Po Bengtsson is a product designer and wheelchair user.
In the course of a day, Po comes across many frustrating situations. He has a spinal cord injury cannot fully use both arms and legs and has poor stability in his upper body but he lives an independent life and is passionate about cooking.
The team focussed on the problem areas related to cooking – shopping, filling the refrigerator and preparing the food. They made cardboard models of their design solutions. The two upper shelves of his fridge are too high to reach but if the upper shelf comes out with the door he can access everything by pulling it down.
Po grows his own herbs on his balcony but the gardening tools on the market are difficult to grip. The team designed a handle that gives good support for any tool. One of the most difficult things about gardening is transporting water to the balcony. The team made a movable water container with wheels so that Po can push it in front of him in the apartment with a string to pull it out on the balcony. Po has not been able to find a soap container on the market that he could handle. The team made one that is lightweight, well balanced and has a large hook in the upper end which gives him control while using it.
