Ergonomic Packaging for The Elderly

Ergonomic packaging refers to the human considerations involved in packaging design. Well-designed, usable, user-friendly, safe, and comfortable to use are all examples of ergonomics. Ergonomics is a significant consideration in packaging design technology. The consumer-user is at the forefront of the US-based packaging company design approach.

The Legacy Printing works hard to make sure that consumers receive high-quality, safe packaging. They are sensitive to offering packaging that promotes social fairness and is appropriate for people of all ages and abilities. They have observed how individuals of all ages open parcels for more than a decade. Therefore, they have created, planned, engineered, and released a new technique to make packages easier to open, utilize, and reclose. Hundreds of complicated human aspects are combined into one solution with their packaging design.

Ergonomic Packaging for The Elderly

The US-based packaging company also discovered that many children were unable to open packages without the assistance of adults. The company also looked into the challenges of losing hand strength among the elderly, disabled people, and others who have trouble using customize gift box.

The majority of seniors expressed “a significant deal of annoyance” when it came to opening goods. Many of the seniors we studied were single. Some seniors shared personal accounts of buying food and other items at the local store, carrying them home, and discarding them because they couldn’t open the packaging without assistance.

According to statistics, customers over 50 would increase by 1.2 billion by 2050 in the USA (Foreign Affairs). Consumers of all ages still have difficulty opening packages, and they cannot get to the product without biting the box or using a knife or scissors. To open tightly packed items, most people utilize sharp instruments. Customize gift boxes or other boxes that are too difficult to open, result in accidental cuts, bruises, gashes, and other injuries. Consumers are frustrated and inconvenienced without ergonomic packaging, which leads to a loss of brand loyalty. The beginning of the package tear is the most challenging phase of the opening process. Once the tear-open process has begun, the consumer must maintain constant, continuous force over time to complete it. The more time it takes to tear, the more difficult it is to keep the thumb and forefinger in position to “pinch hold.” Seniors and toddlers who have hand weakness have significant challenges due to joint tension and pinch pressure.

Food, beverage, consumer goods, personal care, health care, and other products with settings that are moist, slippery, or require a “one-handed opening” method are considered and created by The Legacy Printing. At the US-based packaging company, all ergonomic elements are taken into account during our design-tech process.

The Legacy Printing design allows consumers to easily and quickly open the box, making it ideal for on-the-go lives. Consumers will appreciate this feature, especially if they need to open a package while using a mobile device, driving a car or bicycle, cooking, or holding a young child. The ability to open a box with just one hand is a desirable agronomic characteristic that is rarely seen in packaging design. It is also more convenient to lighten the container by using minimal packaging materials.

Their ultimate goal is to take into account all human variables simultaneously, resulting in dependable and straightforward packaging to open for people of all ages and abilities – every day, everywhere, and at any time.

It must take into account how humans are constructed.

Everyone has encountered impermeable packets that are impossible to open without the use of a unique tool. According to anthropological research, pens, a knife from the kitchen drawer, and a screwdriver or corkscrew are the most regularly utilized equipment to break open or puncture the package. According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, thousands of people have been injured trying to get into these faulty package designs. It is simply too common and unacceptable for people to poke themselves with the tool or nick their fingers on an exposed sharp plastic flange from the box.

From the user’s perspective, compliance is a challenging idea to grasp. There are three primary considerations in packaging design that contribute to compliance and preserving the user’s experience and dignity rather than lingering on the emotional impacts of coping with their illness or disease.

Let’s take a look at why consumer compliance is so difficult.

1. Your packaging box must take into account human anatomy.

Good design takes into account the consumer’s ability. The concept of physical fitness comes first. People with diabetes, for example, have neuropathies that significantly reduce tactile feedback. Therefore any clicks that should be sensed must be boosted to accommodate their sensitivity. Compared to a normal, healthy hand, people with rheumatoid arthritis often have just 5% to 25% of the hand strength. Users with neuromuscular problems, such as multiple sclerosis, have tremors that make it difficult to aim and control the injection site, necessitating two-handed use to steady the dominant hand while targeting and injecting.

Therefore, the packaging designers must also account for the fact that there will be a huge number of elderly consumers who will also use the product. Thus, the packaging design for the customize gift box or any other box for that matter must be designed accordingly. Reduced vision, coordination, control, skill, and a slowdown of cognitive processing are all problems that come with the natural course of aging.

Designing technology, products, and packaging that match the way consumers think, feel, see, and behave is what usability is all about. The influence of a disease or ailment on a user’s hand function, vision, and state of mind is taken into account in good design.

2. Please read the instructions.

IFUs (instructions for use) offer a substantial potential to boost compliance. IFUs that employ a too small typeface to read are printed on a high-gloss substrate that presents contrast and glare concerns and includes users who frequently encounter too many steps to take. As a result, the individuals have trouble following directions, become lost in a long list of tasks, and are frequently presented with uncertainty. One thing is certain about human behavior: individuals only read the instructions when everything else has failed.

IFUs must be constructed so that information is segmented so that the user may consume the content in bite-sized chunks. IFU design can use this well-known phenomenon by incorporating steps and sub-steps that help individuals navigate this cognitive maze. Before subdividing within each phase, it’s ideal for keeping it to five steps or less. Adjusting the substrate backdrop’s color and brightness or using a more matte paper stock are simple ways to reduce glare and contrast. The use of embedded images versus graphics versus words alone is a classic dispute among IFU designers.

The most effective technique is to utilize clear, brief writing with visuals that focus on and underline the behavioral outcome required for success while removing any other visual distractions.

3. Use emotive design to maintain dignity.

Consumers avoid items that appear unapproachable, and compliance suffers as a result. Consumers want nothing to do with something that seems intimidating, complex, or uninviting. The last thing consumers want to be reminded of is their illness and need for medical attention.

Anyone working in the design of custom rigid box packaging and products has a responsibility to provide solutions that do not diminish the user’s feeling of self-worth or remind them of their illness or disease state. Every human person has the right to dignity; it is not an optional feature.

For example, 95% of what people accomplish daily is done with their hands. Simple, straightforward, custom rigid box packaging design supports a wide range of hand sizes, strength, and reach. Because aging hands lose dexterity and strength, usefulness and design are held to a higher standard. Healthy hands should not have any problems with whatever they can do, based on this knowledge.

4. Design Tips for Ergonomic Packaging

Designing for compliance is not difficult, but it necessitates a shift away from traditional packaging- and clinical-driven approaches to packaging design and a user-centered approach. To properly comprehend the functionality of a product, designers must understand how the consumer will engage with it.

Keep these four design tips in mind as you create your custom rigid box packaging:

  1. Take into account physical design elements that affect fit and performance.
  2. Recognize the impact of illness or disease on a user’s capacity to utilize their hands and obtain appropriate feedback.
  3. Include ergonomic characteristics that aid in intuitiveness and usability.
  4. Use packaging shape, texture, color, and sound to guide user behavior through functional aesthetics.

These basic principles of good packaging design directly impact a person’s conscious and unconscious inclination to use the product while remaining unaware of their deteriorating health. The most effective antidote to conformity is a user-centered packaging design that conveys an uplifting mind and reinforces a strong quality of life.

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About the Author: Mithilesh Kumar

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