Designing for our future selves: the Swedish experience.

The social context of Sweden provides a good environment for research and development of products and technical aids for the disabled and elderly. However, the model used by Swedish ergonomists and designers in Ergonomi Design Gruppen emphasizes how the application of experience gained from designing such aids can lead to better products for everyone. Three main examples are given to demonstrate how ergonomics studies and prototype/model evaluation by the target users have led to new designs for familiar objects: eating implements, walking sticks and coffee pots. Addressing particular aspects of design for people with specific difficulties, and problems associated with the use of everyday items, has led to designs which are acceptable to a broader range of users.