Original Article:
The untold story of the vegetable peeler that changed the world
by Mark Wilson
https://www.fastcompany.com/90239156/the-untold-story-of-the-vegetable-peeler-that-changed-the-world
“One of the most important moments in the history of industrial design occurred in 1990, when the kitchen brand OXO defied the traditional, knuckle-bleeding tools of culinary tradition, and released its Good Grips line… The Swivel Peeler was the collection’s flagship product. Created by Smart Design, in conjunction with OXO International’s launch in 1990, it raised the bar for accessible consumer products, and changed the way kitchen tools were designed forever… He [Sam Farber] and his wife Betsey spent a month cooking and enjoying the French countryside… He was cooking with Betsey, she had arthritis, and she was complaining about the peeler, complaining that it was hurting her hands… She was frustrated. The old-style metal peeler wasn’t good. Her background was in architecture and design. I think she initiated the idea of, “Sam, can you do something about this? Make a better handle.”
She grabbed some clay and started on her own. She recognized: “This is something that could be made better, and my husband used to be a housewares executive, and he should do something about it.”… When we were developing this OXO line, we knew we had to have one handle that could be applied to a number of different tools. It’s the economics of the business. Different gadgets would have one handle to make it more economical to produce… Sam was looking, and said it’s nice to have that feature, but people need to see the feature at retail. There needs to be something about it that will attract them to it, signifying there’s something special about this handle. If you hide it, they’ll never know unless they pick it up… Later on, the American Arthritis Foundation gave us some recognition. We put the endorsement onto the package, but we took that off later because we realized, one of the things that’s really important for inclusive design is that the product isn’t stigmatizing. If you identify it as something for arthritis, it’s stigmatizing for someone with arthritis, and it prevents someone buying it who otherwise might, because they think it’s for someone with special needs. We realized someone in need would instantly realize this was better for them, anyway…”
This article gives great insight into the different features and lines of thought that make the OXO Swivel Peeler successful on both the mass market and for those with arthritis.
