Completed. Best of luck.

Good luck to you. My daughter is a second year Industrial Design major. She still has a ways to go to get to where you are today.

Ben - great thread, thank you for posting.

I went to complete the survey, but as neither I nor DH (who meets the age criteria) have mobility issues at this point, it was not possible for me to accurately complete the survey.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Really appreciate it.

Ben in several cases we could only choose one choice when multiple choices would have worked. Also I responded based on my Mother who had been handicapped and still wanted to cook.

I think the biggest problem would be someone who uses a walker, or even a cane as they age. And as I mentioned in the survey, having to carry food stuff across an aisle to get it from an island to the cooktop.

Poorly done survey: you appear to ask for multiple inputs, but the survey doesn't allow it. You ask me if I would buy the product and you haven't defined it yet.

(I fault your instructors for not teaching you how to interview a client.)

And my "accessibility problem" has been with me since my late 20s. They don't just pop out when you hit a certain age.

Ben, you're using Survey Monkey which allows for many styles of responses depending on the question. For example, you could change the response type from radio button to checkbox which would allow for more appropriate responses to some of your questions. You have one question that in all rights should only have yes or no for an answer, but you have a textbox which leads the user to believe you'd like a more robust, free-form answer even though you don't state that. You can set it up so that yes/no answers determine follow-up questions (logic branching).

I don't think your instructor needs to teach you how to set up a survey, as you are a student and should be able to figure this out for yourself if you explore the capabilities of Survey Monkey. Asking a friend to run through your survey and offer feedback may help you see where your questions were leading, or where the response options are limited because you are biasing it due to your set path of thinking.

Good luck! :)

The suggestion by a student (or, much worse, by a manufacturer) that "over 55" is elderly and mobility impaired feels insulting & just plain clueless. My personal impression is that those of us in the early senior stages can largely cope perfectly well with conventional design; our issues can be addressed by quite simple design improvements like packaging that can be opened without the strength of Hercules. The real issue is the elderly elderly, usually beyond 75, who have neither the financial means nor the inclination to cope with learning to use new design features. My advice to you, on my parents behalf, would be KISS! And I would echo others who have commented that design issues are by no means limited to those who are actually old,nevermind 55. My suspicion is that my latchkey grandchildren are no more capable of figuring out excessively complicated microwave buttons than my elderly father.

Thanks, I appreciate both of your comments. A key aspect of the design will be so it does not 'poke fun' or appear obvious for the senior market. I have been advised to target the over-55 market by the company I am working with as they have developed persona research and information at hand.

The product would be designed for this market, whilst integrating aids / modular stations which may prove useful in years to come as some may not wish to purchase another kitchen.

Regarding mobuddy89's comment, I'm glad you agree with the need for adaptable kitchen design! The initial ideas I have been producing for the project are a kitchen island with a number of integrated aids within the worktop in order to help the user and create a far more streamlined way of preparing food. The modules would be allowed to be removed and cleaned at ease and substitutable with one another to suit the user's preferences.

Thanks!

In 2014-2015 I had a frozen shoulder (almost 18 months of constant pain and PT three times a week). Oh how I would have loved an adaptable kitchen!

OT: I had two frozen shoulders a few years ago. And was doing the PT routine etc. and it wasn't getting better or worse. When we got down to FL for the season, it suddenly got much, much worse where I couldn't even raise my arms.

One day I started reading an article about fibromyalgia because my DH's son suffered from that at the time. (He's fine now). In the article it said if you have fibromyalgia you absolutely should not use aspartame as it makes the pain worse. A light bulb went off in my head.

When I was in NY, I'd have one cup of coffee a day with one packet of aspartame. When we got down to FL, I started drinking iced tea several times a day, and each time would put aspartame into my iced tea. I went from having one packet a day to 4-6 packets a day.

I told my DH (a former bio chemist) who also used aspartame and he poo pooed me. I eliminated the aspartame completely. Within a week, my range of motion started to improve dramatically and the pain lessened. Within a month I had full range of motion again. That was something like 4 years ago.

(The story gets better.)

DH continued to use aspartame. Then 2 years ago, he started to get pain in his shoulder again. He had had surgery 4-5 years before that. Without telling me, he decided to try an experiment and stopped using aspartame. Sure enough within a few days his pain went away.

He came to me after 2 weeks of not using the aspartame and said, "I hate to admit it when you're right, but..."

I agree with lazy-gardens, especially the question about what gives me problems. I have vision problems and arthritis, but couldn't specify one without the check mark leaving the other choice.

Also, I don't know if I would buy your island or not without knowing what integrated aids were in it. It almost sounds like a flimsy cart, which I doubt was your intent. The older I get, the more solid I need surfaces, solid as in built in. Now if you can make your integrated aids, whatever those are, that can be built into an existing cabinet or island, that would be ideal. I am imaging something like the mixer lift as an integrated aid, but without description, I may be off-base. Btw, the mixer lift isn't on my want list for my new kitchen; even it requires too much hand strength as I plan on aging in place in my next home.

@cpartist. Pretty bad pain, isn't it? Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep. Sounds childish, but it was excruciating. Interesting, I have given up on artificial sweetners myself. I am trying to use less sugar but when needed I turn to Agave. I may try Stevia.

@Ben, your project sounds interesting. I will say my made-up word here -- "cleanability" -- is really important. Crevices are always a pain to clean no matter the injury, disability or age.

The other difficult part to appliances, etc. being integrated into a countertop or cabinet is that they break or new models don't fit. I can remember my friend's mom had a blender built into her countertop sometime in the 60s. By the 90s, that thing looked ancient and kind of creepy.

Because of my shoulder issues, I am seriously considering whether or not I will want soft-close drawer glides. I will still get ball-bearing but I had just had a conversation with a rep from Knape & Vogt and they told me many people with arthritis, etc. have problems using enough force to open the drawer and are inquiring on how to disable it (not possible she said). I know soft-close is loved here, but I wonder how we will all feel in 20 years about them!

soon to be 78 yrs old, I still love my soft close drawers - now opening jars (pickles, olives, etc) is a whole different story.

Some random thoughts here. Almost 60. I have no mobility or strength issues (I am probably stronger than most 20 somethings). I don't want gadgets built into my kitchen, I want to have what I need accessible, I want flexibility, and I want light!! To me, that means that I want to be able to reach/access what I need.... and at 5'3", that means I expect I will appreciate all of the drawers I have. As my eyes get worse, I'll appreciate all the pot lights that I have and when strength becomes an issue and I still want to bake, I can switch out my KA for the new 25% smaller model! I will admit that I am probably totally scr**ed if I become wheelchair bound as I didn't build a prep area that would work in that situation. I guess I'll put in a kitchen table.

I have, but don't care about soft close drawers or push to open doors Soft close was included in the price and push to close was purely aesthetic. As long as you have a handle that is easy to use I don't see a need for push to open (which can be a PITA if you accidentally bump into it). Not sure why a towel rack would be any more important for a senior than a new mom, and cannot figure out how a peg board in my island would be used.

I am trying to use less sugar but when needed I turn to Agave. I may try Stevia.

Yes the pain was awful.

I use agave in my coffee now and if I need to sweeten something like my morning yogurt I use maple syrup.

Stevia didn't agree with my stomach. :)

I just am not seeing this as a product I'd buy. Designing a kitchen correctly is one thing - plopping an island in won't give you wider aisles, for example.

Trouble opening jars? - A trick and a tool. Semi gently whack the side of the lid of the jar (upside down) against your floor (or counter, depending what you have). You'll hear a whoosh and should be able to easily open the jar. Otherwise, use a tool like this Oxo jar opener:

An aging-in-place thread would be very interesting; to solicit input with respect to challenges and solutions.

I think the survey needs to define what integrated aids are re kitchen island.

I recently went back to college to get another degree. I can assure you that there are many younger people who believe that anyone over 40 is simply ancient. With all of the Internet millionaires, they feel that they have to do everything before they are 25. Everything else begins to be over the hill

Does anyone know the name of the next step? At 55 I could do 99% of what I could do at 35- I think that is true of anyone who is 55 and still exercising. When I look at my friends who are 75, some of them can do nearly everything that they could do when they were 55 but most cannot, whether or not they exercise. Although there is one woman in my book club who is a yoga instructor at 80 something and she in great shape. You wouldn't think she's a day over 50. There's a great shift that occurs somewhere before or in our early 70s? When we are teens we call it puberty in our older age we call it _____?

My IDEAL counter would have something like the "T-track" on woodworking bench setups, where your selected tools fit into an INDUSTRY STANDARD (easily cleanable) slot and locks into place.

The WORST accessibility issue I have are those stupid black on black controls, where you can't read the numbers or dots. That is easily fixed by a silver permanent marker.

I'm over 55 ( that's all you need to know (-: )and I recently redid my kitchen and added an island. Love it! .I just wanted to say I rarely use my dishwasher. I installed a sink with a rack and a cutting board and a faucet with a single paddle handle. And a chef type stove.

I have no problem with the "over 55" label. My thought was that this type of design is geared toward communities that are designed for 55 and over residents. There are quite a few of these popping up around here and I think it is wise for them to design for all levels of physical limitations or not within the community.

You need to define what you mean by " ... an island which will act as a modular food & prep station, with the integration of aids and products into the worktop to aid the user for prep processes."

Without a more clear explanation and, ideally, a diagram or sketch, your survey cannot be accurately answered.

Good luck with school.

Hello everyone,

Firstly, the response to my post has been overwhelming and there have been a number of extremely helpful comments.

Unfortunately, I have been advised in the past by my tutors and mentors not to publish early conceptual ideas online in the case of them being copied elsewhere. I have since shown my designs to the tutors and representatives from the company I am working with and they believe a trolley / smaller station dedicated to the food prep would be more appropriate than an island.

I am now working on new concepts, angling the project toward a product which could be moved around the kitchen at ease. This trolley / 'pod' would then pull out to reveal prep surfaces and a a number of smart aids to be used while preparing meals.

Many Thanks,

Ben.

Hmmm, Ben. I think your next most important question to your mentors/instructors is to determine how often and to what extent they personally use a kitchen for other than the assembling of a ham sandwich. I have often found that if the designers of "women stuff" are men with little hands-on experience, they come up with products/procedures that leave the target audience rolling their eyes. The same may be said of women who aren't really kitchen users either.

Here is an example of excellent design for actual usage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnVOympznlI The first time I saw this video, I thought, "That's how I use a kitchen!" I now own one of those sinks. I expect when I'm 80 I'll still be chopping onions in the same way. Although I don't use the white accessories so often, I do use the cutting board several times a day plus lighter weight substitutes for the bowls. I would never use a rolling cart thingy for this type of prep - on hand water is essential.

I do have a 4 x 5 island, but I don't use it for cooking prep. I use it for baking prep. Baking prep essentials, mixing bowls, measuring spoons, spatulas, etc., are in the island drawers. The island is 40" from the oven and 40" from the pantry with flour, sugar, etc. An essential part of this type of island is being able to thoroughly clean it after use. Anything built in to the surface would be a cleaning issue, as well as being in the way of usable surface space. If at 80 I were still up for baking cookies and cakes, I can't see how this space usage would change. Wait, maybe one. I have a mixer lift in the island that is not as easy to use as one might wish. A better mixer lift could be useful.