November 01, 2007
Reaching Consumers With Disabilities: The Silver Economy
Over at New Mobility author Mark E. Smith notes that demographics of aging and disability have penetrated into product design thinking. Not just NTT DoCoMo's cell phone but Honda's Monpal and Porsche's P'Gasus represent the maturity of mainstream manufacturer's knowledge about PwD as a market.
Honda Motor Company - known for its automobiles, motorcycles and recreational vehicles - has entered the mobility market, launching its Monpal mobility scooter. As a mobility device, the Monpal is a bold move for Honda, reaching out to a consumer demographic that other mainstream transportation manufacturers haven't yet addressed: those of us with disabilities.What's intriguing about the Monpal is that Honda approached the mobility market from an automotive perspective rather than a clinical one, integrating aspects like automotive-style lighting and bold body design that obviously take cues from the motorcycle market.
For the full article:
http://www.newmobility.com/articleView.cfm?id=11019