Project 01
Design for Dignity
An accessible pruning tool designed to support older adults participating in horticultural therapy, with a focus on agency, dignity, comfort, and continued participation.
Context
Designing for participation, not just accessibility.
This project explored how industrial design can support older adults in care environments through tools that preserve independence, comfort, and meaningful participation.
Developed within a Georgia Tech design-for-dignity studio later featured by World Design Organization and Dezeen, the project focused on using industrial design to support community well-being, dignity, and participation.
Research
Understanding the physical and emotional barriers around tool use.
Research centered on observation, design activities, and synthesis around how people interact with pruning tools in a horticultural therapy setting.
Key themes included grip comfort, hand fatigue, confidence, safety, visibility, and the importance of maintaining a sense of control during shared activities.
Development
Translating research into form, mechanics, and grip behavior.
The form development process focused on reducing strain while preserving the familiar action of pruning. Early models explored handle proportion, leverage, cutting posture, and how the tool could communicate stability.
CAD and physical modeling were used together to evaluate scale, ergonomics, and interaction details before refining the final direction.
Final Direction
A tool designed to make pruning feel more stable, comfortable, and achievable.
The final direction supports horticultural therapy by making the pruning action easier to approach and easier to sustain. The design emphasizes grip comfort, controlled force, and a form language that feels capable without feeling medicalized.
My contributions included research synthesis, design framing, CAD development, physical modeling, and refinement of the tool’s form and interaction.