Presented in the New Old exhibition at the Design Museum in London the Scooter for Life is a prototype designed by the leading London design studio PriestmanGoode for older demographics, which aims to provide users with more independence through greater mobility.Scooter for Life is a brand of products for all ages to accompany you through your life and change as your mobility requirements evolve; products that are highly adaptable and help older demographics improve their mobility on a very practical basis. Paul Priestman, designer and Chairman of PriestmanGoode explains “When we were approached to contribute a mobility solution for the New Old, we immediately agreed that we wanted to design an object that wasn’t just about giving older people more mobility but to encourage them to stay physically active for longer. Designers have an important part to play in affecting behaviour. Over the course of many brainstorming sessions, we came to a number of conclusions. Firstly that we wanted to design something for all ages, a product for life, a brand that could follow you through your life as your mobility needs evolved; and that our solution would be a product designed to help people stay fitter for longer and provide older demographics with independence, safety and security. We started looking at micro scooters, which are ubiquitous in so many family lives today. Every day, I see children going to school on scooters, and parents riding them home. Looking out from the windows of our office in Central London, we see more and more young professionals using them to commute. But at some stage, people stop using them. This may be because of stigma, safety concerns or simply the fact that older generations have not had scooters before, which creates a barrier to late adoption.” Paul continues: “We wanted to design something that was both beautiful as well as highly practical. We discussed what requirements people had for a mobility aid and came up with a list of boxes that our solution would need to tick: you had to be able to take it on public transport, to take it into a shop, it needed to be able to fold down, there needed to be space to store groceries, and it had to be able to be taken into a flat or a house.”Benefits for older generations in particular include: a three-wheel arrangement (two larger in front, one smaller at back) provides stability; the scooter only moves when you release the brakes, making it safer and more stable; a large front basket functions as a shopping trolley, allowing users to take their scooter into shops and providing a place to carry groceries while leaving their hands free; optional seat and electric power would allow users to switch to electronic mode if powering by foot becomes too strenuous.The Scooter for Life also aims to increase intergenerational interaction and counter the loneliness and isolation that many feel with old age. Throughout the development process, PriestmanGoode developed the idea of ‘slowbility’, namely mobility for a demographic that doesn’t need to rush, that has time to enjoy the moment. The Scooter for Life allows users to do that safely and comfortably.
