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A-level Product Design Gardening Help

allanben62567b7se5allanben62567b7se5 Posts: 1
in Problem solving
I am currently a student studying product design for my A-level, and I will be designing a gardening product aimed specifically at people aged 65+ or people suffering from mobility problems. it would be hugely useful if I could receive some opinions / feedback on the following:

- what kind of problems people in the mentioned categories face when gardening
- what solutions people wish they could have / how they want these problems to be fixed
- what issues you have with current products you have / products on the market

Any responses would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Posts

  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    Well as a start, simple tools that mean you don't have to bend or stretch too much would be good.  I wouldn't bother with the kneeling  stuff Unless you have something amazingly innovative. It's been tried and failed several times.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • LiriodendronLiriodendron Posts: 8,328
    Many of us "oldies" find strength of hands and wrists diminishes, so tools which are easier to hold (like trowels with fatter handles, or loppers and secateurs with a ratchet mechanism to make cutting less of a strain) are useful.  To be honest, most of what I need to make my gardening life easier, exists already...   :)  

    Bending too much is a nightmare, as @B3 says.  And I get tired annoyingly quickly.  An automatic cup-of-tea deliverer would be wonderful (joking, in case you're planning on building one!  I have a husband who is quite reliable for tea making...)
    Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718
    What I would like is a decent watering can, and that is a general request not an age specific one. The fundamental form of the can has scarcely altered in 150 years - and maybe for very good reason - but I would like it if there was greater choice. Even the much lauded Haws watering can scarcely impresses me and I get annoyed by the leaking, poorly performing rose on the end of the spout.

    On the Trouva web site there are a few more innovative styles but they are targeted at indoor use and not for the garden.
    Rutland, England
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    What about some sort of electric riddler for seiving homemade compost. The manual ones are quite physically demanding.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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