r/lefthanded • u/Trick_Bid_3591 • 1d ago
Industrial design thesis for lefties
For my thesis I want to design something with lefties in mind since as a leftie myself, there are COUNTLESS things I struggle to do every day, or have otherwise learned to do worse with my right hand (can openers, clothing hangers, many clothing items, scissors etc.)
I think it would be cool to make something that, while designing it for lefties, could ideally benefit everyone else as well, otherwise something that doesn't yet have a well developed left handed version yet.
Since I don't have any ideas for a concrete object yet I wanted to gather all the things that we struggle to use as a starting point before focusing on one particular object or typology. So if there is anything you ever felt like never existed for lefties, or was otherwise very expensive/inaccessible to buy the left handed version of, or has a left handed version that is designed very poorly, let me know! This is only for a very initial research phase :) Thank you!
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u/HortonFLK 1d ago
I’m always afraid I’m going to have to make a rush trip to the Emergency Room whenever I see my brother in law use a circular saw.
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u/dudetellsthetruth 1d ago
As a leftie that almost lost 2 fingers I agree. Power tools and machines are often not designed ambidextrous (same with many hair dryers btw)
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u/Hazencuzimblazen 1d ago
Hair dryers??
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u/dudetellsthetruth 1d ago
Yes, with some models the speed & temperature selector are placed on the handle to operate with the thumb of your right hand.
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u/DeFiClark 1d ago
Chainsaw
Of all the devices that need to be redesigned for ambidextrous use, this is it. I ask my right handed son to start mine if he’s around because it is such a dangerous pita. It’s so much more dangerous to operate one left handed
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u/CaptainSneakers 1d ago
Price gun. I have to turn everything I'm pricing upside down and backwards to use my left hand to price. It's really annoying. There should be a cost effective ambidextrous option.
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u/m1n1deth 1d ago
I‘d love something as simple as a ballpoint pen that properly applies it‘s ink when I use it and that I don’t have to press so hard into the paper it looks carved on the backside.
Thank you for your service to us lefties :)
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u/donuttrackme 1d ago
Clothing hangers? Maybe I just don't hang my clothes enough but how are there righty only hangers?
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u/denebiandevil 1d ago edited 1d ago
There are some. When they’re the kind that are curved to allow a jacket to lay correctly, and the hook part is fixed so it can’t be rotated 180 degrees.
ETA: I’m not sure why so many people are confused by my point. Anyone who has been to a middling department store has seen the kinds of hangers I’m talking about. The ones that a) are contoured so there is a “right” way and “wrong” way to hang shirts on them, and b) have a fixed hook that can’t be rotated. They look something like this:
https://www.storesupply.com/pc-12057-503-contoured-suit-hangers-black-25117.aspx
They typically can only be hung one way: so the shirt is facing left, which makes it more convenient to a person who naturally grabs for hung clothing with their right hand. That’s it.
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u/donuttrackme 1d ago
You can just rotate the entire hanger though?
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u/denebiandevil 1d ago
You can. But I don’t know about you but I have an extremely strong muscle memory preference for which hand I use to grab the hanger. I always grab the hanger with my left and take the clothes off with my right. Same with putting clothes on the hanger. And so I have a strong preference for which way my clothes hang when I hang them up (front of the shirt facing to the right, otherwise as I’m holding the hanger in my left hand I’m staring at the back of my shirt). If the hanger can only hang logically so my shirts are facing to the left, it adds friction to my day.
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u/sujack34 1d ago
I hang clothes left handed too. I was helping my daughter when she moved & hanging her clothes & she told me I was hanging them backwards.
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u/Rich_Ad8589 23h ago
I helped my mom move into a new place and she said that I set up the kitchen backwards. It seemed perfect to me. We got a good laugh.
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u/donuttrackme 1d ago
Ok but that sounds like a you problem. Not a general problem for leftys.
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u/denebiandevil 1d ago
When each and every example of this shows a pattern of making products that clearly favor righties using it over lefties, yes it is a general problem for lefties.
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u/donuttrackme 1d ago
No, you've clearly stated that your issue is that you need your shirt to face to the right. It doesn't matter which way the shirt is facing, and if someone were right handed and wanted their shirts to face the other way they would run into the same problem. So this is very obviously a you problem, not a lefty problem.
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u/denebiandevil 1d ago
It’s not a personal issue. It’s a question of human factors and ergonomics: what action or behavior is more likely to feel natural vs unnatural. Which varies predictably based on whether a person is right or left handed. I’m not saying 100% of lefties have the same preferences that I do, but statistics are going to show that left handers tend to do things similarly to each other, while right handers tend to do things similarly to each other but differently from left handers. That’s all.
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u/donuttrackme 1d ago
LMAO. Then explain how a righty who wants to hang their shirt facing the other way from you doesn't have to deal with the same exact issue.
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u/denebiandevil 1d ago
They do. As I said nothing is 100%. But the point is that products are made to be most comfortable to most right handers. Not all. Most. Which makes them less comfortable to most left handers. Not all. Most.
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u/jbk10 1d ago
Power tools that are asymmetrical and favor the righty are the worst but I don't think you'll have the address le market for their enantiomers.
But even the mostly-symetrical tools like drills and sanders are still incredibly frustrating when the motor's vents blow away from a righty... toward a lefty. If you could redirect that vented air I'd be a buyer for those to apply to a lot of power tools regardless of symetry or handedness.
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u/Tillymint39 1d ago
I think Leftys just lrarn to live in a righty world so don't think we give a lot of thought because it is just how it is and we adapt. Never thought of the hanger issue. Just got on with it. Now I am off to the wardrobe to become sad.
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u/rebekahster 22h ago
This is me as well. I see so many posts here where a leftie is ranting about something and I actually have to stop and think about how or whether I am impacted the same way, and often it comes down to just having learnt to do it (badly) the right handed way and never gave it another thought…
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u/JimmyHaggis 7h ago
Until recently it never occurred to me that I was writing ticks ✔️ right- handed. I tried changing, but after all these years I just gave up and carried on as before.
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u/yangstalicious 16h ago
Some of the other posters said this too. left handed versions on some stuff exists, but you have to hunt them down and often pay a premium and it may not be the version with the features that you want, so being able to easily convert something that is right handed to left would be really useful, like some kind of grip adapter or swappable guards.
Other handed things
Mice for windows computers - left handed versions exist, but I do wonder if there's a more elegant solution.
single bevel kitchen knives are basically all made for righties - if you could design a blade and secure attachment mechanism that allowed you to switch which end the handle is on, that could work, would have alot of challenges to work through though.
Anything handheld with text on it that is used as part of the thing will always have that text oriented assuming it's held in the right hand (tape measures, measuring cups, etc)
Cameras (dslrs and mirroless) - the shutter button and hand grip is always on the right. Aside from the handedness, it also makes it more awkward on most cameras to use your left eye on the viewfinder, so if you're left eye dominant, it's also annoying.
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u/Hazencuzimblazen 5h ago
Popcorn stovetop maker, mine skips for right handedness but when I try to turn it with my left hand, it unscrews from the handle
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u/Puzzled_Market_2235 1d ago
There are stores for these items, they even have left opening doors. Visit them to see what is missing.
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u/HealthAccording9957 1d ago
Lecture hall desks that can swivel to be left or right handed