Helen Hamlyn Research Centre

playground: inclusive design for disabled homeworkers

Research and development of new concepts for home office furniture for disabled teleworkers, designed in collaboration with specific users.

Two social trends informed this project. First, the growth in homeworking. Second, the above-average levels of unemployment among Britain's 6.2 million disabled people, many of whom would like to participate in the UK's information economy but are prevented from doing so by lack of appropriate tools and support. The habits and needs of disabled teleworkers were investigated through visits and an e-mail questionnaire. The designer then worked closely with five users in their homes to develop site-specific design briefs.

Two new furniture products illustrate a move away from hospital-stye appliances towards a more playful spirit. Carousel is a large, horse-shoe-shaped desk designed to give wheelchair users the maximum work area from one single point, and with a turntable beneath to simulate the movement of a swivelling office chair when the wheelchair is driven onto its platform. Swing is a chair for computer users who suffer from severe back pain: it can be hung on pivot points from a support frame from different angles to change the pressure points on the body, and it has a special mattress with ergonomically designed pockets than can be filled with different materials to customise support for the neck and lumbar regions.