The Project

Context and Background Information

Intention tremors, caused by cerebellar dysfunction, are characterized by a large periodic tremor that intensifies towards the end of purposeful, precise motor movements [1]. As a result, afflicted individuals experience a significant reduction in performance of independent activities of daily living (IADLs).

Situation of Concern

With the goal of promoting independence among those experiencing intention tremors, home management was selected as the situation of concern. Currently, few products reduce the level of precision required to hang clothes. Therefore, there exists a need to design a device for mid-life professionals with severe intention tremors to transfer formal clothing in a closet in a way that simplifies access to and fine motor-based placement of the clothing.

Methods Used

Prior to concept generation and design, our design team identified necessary requirements and constraints, completed a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) chart, and recorded functions and means for a modified hanger, in order to better understand the situation of concern. From the QFD, we identified the prominent requirement as ease of use. Primary and secondary personas were also constructed—a middle-aged, female lawyer experiencing intention tremors and her husband.

Main Findings

The iterated hanger was weighted to help stabilize tremors. A modified “duck-shaped” hanger hook was incorporated to reduce the precision required to hang it up. The hook featured extending arms pointing outward to guide the hanger onto the rod. It also featured a hinge mechanism and clip to open and close the arm, easing the process of hanging pants on the hanger. We constructed a low-medium fidelity prototype using layered balsa wood sheets. During user testing, which focused on evaluating the ease of use of the modified hook, 60% of participants felt that the modified hanger was easy to use, corroborating the design's success.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The design team successfully addressed the problem space, iterating a hanger to promote independence among mid-life professionals experiencing intention tremors, by easing the process of transferring and storing formal clothing. In future iterations, testing could be expanded to evaluate the ease of use of the hinge mechanism. Further, the hanger design could be adapted to enable the hanging of other formal garments, such as skirts.

References

[1] “Tremor,” National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke,

https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/tremor#:~:text=Cerebellar%20tremor%20is%20typically%20a,such%20as%20pressing%20a%20button. [Accessed Nov 3, 2023].