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Designability – Innovation at its best
DESIGNABILITY IS PERHAPS BEST-KNOWN FOR ITS ICONIC RED WIZZYBUG – A POWERED WHEELCHAIR PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE TO YOUNG DISABLED CHILDREN THROUGHOUT THE UK.
The Wizzybug Loan Scheme is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Through this scheme, Designability has helped over one thousand children and their families, providing opportunities for independence, exploration and adventure from a very young age.
Whilst the importance of early years powered mobility is evident from numerous research studies, powered wheelchairs for disabled children under five are hard to come by from the NHS. Designed and built in-house by the Designability team, Wizzybugs are made available for free to every child who could benefit. Once the child has outgrown the Wizzybug, it is then refurbished by the charity and passed on to another child to enjoy.
The pioneering loan scheme has proved to be a resounding success, with the charity regularly sharing photos and videos of children enjoying independent movement. The impact of having a Wizzybug goes much further though – it gives children the opportunity to make choices and decisions, which has a lasting effect on them.
Looking to build on the success of the scheme, Designability is working to reach the next one thousand children by 2026.
A NEW LOAN SCHEME
Inspired by the demand for and the success of the Wizzybug Loan Scheme, Designability is progressing its project to create a pushchair for manual wheelchair users.
Parents who use manual wheelchairs have very few options when it comes to taking their children out and about independently. Whilst some use slings or other carriers, parents report that these are often uncomfortable and do not feel safe. Yet there are no products commercially available for a wheelchair-compatible pushchair.
Designability estimates that as many as five thousand disabled parents could benefit each year, and hopes to make the product available through a free loan scheme, so that all disabled parents can benefit regardless of their personal financial situation. They are now working to raise funding to achieve this.
With a fully working prototype, the project team have recently completed the first phase of user testing trials. The views of participants will now be fed back into the design process with a finalised design anticipated in 2022.
Matthew Ford, Head of Design and Engineering, explained, “We follow a user-centred design process which means that we listen to disabled people in our design work, so we have been working closely with parents – and prospective parents – who are manual wheelchair users. Their initial feedback helped us to design the first iteration of the product and now their valuable input and insights will allow us to refine the prototype further.
“The importance of working closely with disabled people throughout this process can’t be understated. It is core to our ethos that we create products that disabled people want to use and involving them at an early stage of the design process, and throughout, is an integral part of our approach.”
MAKING EV CHARGING ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL
This approach of early user engagement has also seen Designability embark on a standardsetting project with the charity Motability to help ensure that electric vehicle charging facilities are accessible to all.
In a world where a raft of EV companies are forging ahead with their own products, little thought has been given to the accessibility requirements of disabled drivers. Yet the Government has announced that from 2030 all sales of new petrol and diesel cars will cease as we transition over to electric cars. This has significant implications, with research showing that current public charge points are largely inaccessible to disabled people*. Without being able to charge an electric car, disabled drivers could soon be facing a crisis.
Motability’s research** estimates that there will be 2.7 million disabled drivers or passengers by 2035, with 1.35 million expected to be partially or wholly reliant on public charging infrastructure.
Informing best-practice design for EV charge points will make them more accessible for all. It is hoped that the design guidance shared from this project will have influence around the world as the UK sets the recognised standards in EV charger accessibility.
Having completed a comprehensive phase of user engagement research with a wide range of disabled participants, the project is now beginning the concept design phase where Designability’s team of specialist designers and engineers will explore and develop user friendly solutions for public EV charging. The charity will also be developing prototypes to demonstrate designs and will contribute towards a Standard with the British Standards Institute which will provide design guidance and recommendations for stakeholders in the EV charging market across the UK.
Catharine Brown, Chief Executive of Designability, said, “As a charity, Designability is uniquely placed to undertake the research, develop the products and propose the solutions which can have a positive and lasting impact on the lives of disabled people.
“Whilst the free Wizzybug Loan Scheme has given independence to over one thousand disabled children in the UK alone, projects like the Pushchair for Wheelchair users and our work on EV charging infrastructure means that many, many more people are able to live with greater independence. ”However, as a charity which receives no government funding, we are reliant of the generosity of our supporters and the public to fund our work, and to make sure that disabled people have access to the equipment they need to live the life they choose.”
To find out more about Designability and to support the charity’s work, visit www.designability.org.uk
*Inaccessible Charging is Barrier to Electric for Disabled and Older Drivers | Research Institute for Disabled Consumers
**Motability’s research with Ricardo Energy and Environment is available via motability.org.uk
