Pieceworkers who work by hand with industrial processes in the home are among the most socially vulnerable and economically exploited groups of workers in the UK. Such work is often repetitive and dirty, done in inadequate spaces: and suitable equipment is too expensive. This project, in collaboration with the National Group on Home-working, identified, researched and developed a collection of low-cost objects to support the work of manual homeworkers.
Observation and analysis of six homeworking households in South Wales, Gosport and West Yorkshire informed the development of a range of low-tech products that could either be purchased at low cost by the homeworker or supplied free of charge by the employer.
Three design proposals were realised, each targeted at specific user contexts: a kitchen work stool, designed for perching at the kitchen sink to stick and assemble textile samples; plastic table-top organisers for small-scale electronic component assembly; and a range of stiff paper bags to hold and transport rubber trimmings. Study of factory processes guided development of these objects for use in a domestic setting.
In this project Research Associate Yuko Tsurumaru has demonstrated how simple, inexpensive design solutions can contribute to quality of life for those working at home with industrial processes and materials in domestic spaces.
Download full report (1.3MB PDF file)
Homeworking, piecework, manual homeworkers, design for low cost, user centred design
