Universal Walking Cane
Canes tend to look medical, which makes a disability more visible than it needs to be. I designed a cane concept in OXO’s design language that reads as a personal object instead: warm wood to move away from the medical aesthetic, colorways drawn from OXO’s palette, and a wide grip and rounded foot that answer the ergonomic complaints users described.
Three composite users, built from real experiences: quotes I gathered from people who use canes, and a lot of questions I asked my mom. Those voices set the project's values and its design direction. Each persona led to a decision: a look that doesn't read as medical, a hook and stable foot for hands-free moments, and a grip built for hours of use. Hover a card to read the quote behind it.
"When I hurt my knee, I had to use a cane to walk until it healed enough for me to walk without it again... It was astounding to me how many people stopped and stared at me, simply because I didn't 'look crippled'..."
"You need to use both hands (standing at a cashier's counter for instance) you can hook the cane across your arm instead of having to look for a place to put it."
"The handle is unbearable. It's hard plastic and digs into the heel of my hand to the point I had a bruise after using it for 4+ hours."
Each feature answers a painpoint from the research: the medical look, the grip that bruises, and the flat foot that slips at an angle.
Design consistency was achieved by incorporating two specific inflection points in both the grip and the foot
"I have found that personalizing my mobility equipment helped a lot because it didn't look as clinical."
Various colorways encourage personal connection through aesthetic choice that match OXO's existing color palette. Each cane takes its color from an OXO product people may already have at home.
