Award-winning bike seat gets amputee back in the saddle

The Helen Hamlyn Fixperts Awards is a prestigious international competition, with entrants from over 50 universities in more than 20 countries. It champions human-centred design that positively impacts people’s lives.

Chi Hoang and Anna Eerdmans' award-winning project saw them create a bespoke bike seat for their client Zara, a leg amputee.

Due to the nature of Zara's amputation, she has only bone and tissue on her right side. This can make sitting extremely uncomfortable – even painful. Any friction or pressure can cause long-term bruising, so she needs extra padding to prevent injury.

Working closely with Zara, Chi and Anna went through various design iterations to ensure that the seat fit met her particular needs.

Their final solution was a hammock-style seat affixed to a trike, enabling Zara to ride around Brighton. The specialised trike was awarded in a grant with the Douglas Bader Foundation.

The pair worked on the brief as part of their first-year BA (Hons) Product Design module ‘Ergonomics, Empathy, and Inclusion’, which tasks students with identifying a client and creating a solution to help them achieve something they currently struggle with.

Course leader Mathew Brown said: “This project was a great learning curve for both students who have recently commenced year 2 of their studies.

“A big thank you and acknowledgement to Phil Nutley (Ravensbourne alumni product designer) and Emma Yates from Mima who collaborated on the project and helped the students to deepen their understanding of human centred design.”