24 Hour Inclusive Design Challenge 2010, Boston, USA, organised by the Institute for Human-Centered Design (IHCD) 17-18 November 2010
Team Haymarket
Team leader: Nick Jehlen (The Action Mill)
Design partner: Barbara Holecek
Petal addresses the lack of places for people to take short rests as they navigate the city. We all need a place to pause, step out of the flow of pedestrians, catch our breath, and gather our thoughts and we need it to be available everywhere.
The team's design partner, Barbara gave us a clear idea of how often she needs to stop - about once a block. To solve this problem, the team piggy-backed on a regulated feature located at regular intervals on every city street: the fire hydrant. By making slight alterations to the design of its cap, the team adapted the hydrant to better fit Barbara's needs - when there was no where else to rest, she leant on a hydrant.
The Design
The result is the Petal, which comes in two versions - one that attaches as a collar on existing hydrant caps, and one where an entire cap or hydrant is being replaced. The Petal includes two resting surfaces: one sloped for leaning against, the other horizontal for sitting on. Because of this design, Petal fits most users.
Petal comes in twos to promote short interactions among users who share them, but face slightly away from each other.
To work, Petal needs to be as ubiquitous as hydrants, and as the first step toward universal adoption, the team want to give people the experience of using Petal anywhere they go, and seeing others use them. The team alos designed a small, light foldable adapter - the Seed, that can be be used to temporarily convert any current hydrant into a place to rest.
