27 April 2021

World's first deodorant designed for people with upper limb disabilities

Applying deodorant is such a routine gesture that most people do it without thinking. Not the case for people with upper limb disabilities. Try opening a deodorant bottle with one hand, and you'll immediately run into issues: how to get the cap off and back on, for starters. For people without hands or limited grip, precise application can be tricky, too.

Degree — marketed as Rexona in many countries, and Sure and Shield in a few others — teamed up with design experts, occupational therapists, engineers, consultants and people living with disabilities to remedy that problem, and has now created the world's first adaptive deodorant.

Degree Inclusive features a hooked design and magnetic closures on the cap, so users can open and close the product with one hand or limited grip. A wide bottom grip makes it easier to hold, and a large roll-on applicator covers more surface area with every swipe. The product's design requires more plastic to manufacture, but the bottle is refillable.

This is the Unilever-owned brand's first foray into accessible design, and Degree Inclusive is currently going through a beta trial to get feedback from 200 people living with disabilities. Which everyday product could your brand tackle, that's effortless for most consumers, but a struggle for many others? 

Related: Wireless braille keyboard for blind smartphone users — Developers can now submit games to Microsoft for accessibility testing