#HTE

Compensatory Design for Difficult Packaging: A Kitchen Tool for Opening Yogurt Containers

Another object in the “I’m sad this exists, but I see why it exists” category: This Sanizone tool, designed for arthritic people who cannot easily peel the seals on yogurt packages, sour cream containers and the like.

It’s also got this lamprey-like feature for aiding in the removal of screw-on caps.

A small magnet embedded in the handle lets you stick it to the ‘fridge.

I don’t doubt that the tool is useful for those with grip issues, but I do wish the designers had made it a bit more sightly. Or that they’d chosen different colors for the plastic; those specific tones of pink and blue make me think of the Chinatown dollar store I used to live near, which hawked cheapie clothespins and colanders made of the same stuff.

Lastly—and I say this as a former package designer—I wish that every package designer, or their boss that forces certain decisions, would be made to spend a weekend opening 1,000 of their creations.