Dignity in matters of personal hygiene, bath and shower care must be afforded to all age groups. Specifically, older individuals, who live alone. For my topic's inspiration, I modelled the target demographic after my mom and coupled by the fact she has had carpal tunnel surgeries during the pandemic. What surfaced to light was the ageist product and packaging architecture that may restrict her from showering and bathing, and therefore, preventing her from living independently in this aspect of normal daily life. There is now an added emphasis on self-isolation brought about by the pandemic, which led me to wonder how older women in a similar situation and lifestyle as my mother practised self-care from the viewpoint of product design.

My project seeks to understand the often-overlooked designs in everyday bath care products that could be ageist and unintentionally exclusionary. By honing in on the target audience of women over 70 years of age, I can catch a glimpse of what might truly be an unnecessary hurdle in the lives of senior women facing ageist product designs lurking in their shower care, by concentrating specifically on the opening mechanisms of bath and body care bottles.

Study findings via semi-structured, qualitative interviews helped shed light on the lived experience of the older demographic and their journey in using products and bottles with limited consideration to their abilities that come with age. Based on my own research and experience as an aromatherapist, I was able to design a product for bath care, keeping usability and delight for my audience in mind.

Findings can be used to launch further research when it comes to product design to limit ageist designs in other fields as well.