Hanes Hsu

Platinum Prize

Fluid Boundaries is an adaptive kitchenware system designed in response to the nuanced challenges older adults face in maintaining independence during daily routines. Aging often brings changes in mobility, strength, and cognition—yet kitchen environments remain largely standardized and exclusionary.
Through interviews with art therapists and older adults (ranging from ages 80 to 84), the project draws from lived experience and care-centered insight to understand everyday obstacles in preparing and serving food. Rather than treating aging as a limitation, this project reframes it as a design opportunity.
The resulting tray and plate system is both functional and symbolic: lightweight, easy to grip, and designed to accommodate various hand movements and physical abilities. The ergonomic grip was developed using finger-width data to suit a range of hand sizes, placing the wrist in a neutral position and reducing strain from pronated or supinated angles—a key consideration for users with arthritis or carpal tunnel. The grip also doubles as a spill guard for added safety.
Brightly colored plates enhance visual contrast to help users with low vision more easily identify food and distinguish objects on the plate. This addresses common challenges in visual perception that come with aging, supporting safer and more confident eating experiences.

Additional functional details are built into the form: deep plate walls support scooping, while a gently sloped base channels liquids to the edges. Stacking is made easier through formed sidewalls. The plate is constructed from a 3-ply aluminum-stainless steel-aluminum construction where the stainless steel with magnetic properties allows it to anchor to the tray, helping to prevent spills during movement and stabilizing the plate while eating. The embedded magnets support modular attachments, enabling users to secure additional accessories without compromising usability.

The tray shares the same ergonomic grip design and is made from food-safe, easy-to-clean HDPE. A warm, embedded maple insert offsets the utilitarian plastic and invites emotional connection. The tray flips to become a cutting board, where the handle transforms into a juice groove, intentionally offset to preserve usable surface. In this configuration, the embedded magnets hold knives or tools in place—adding safety by reducing the risk of falls or injury.
Fluid Boundaries lives between healthcare and domestic design, highlighting how emotional connection, aging, and autonomy intersect in everyday objects. It questions who products are truly made for and proposes a more empathetic approach to inclusive product development.