Unilever's Degree Deodorant has introduced the world’s first inclusive deodorant for people with visual and upper extremity impairments, Degree Inclusive, to make the deodorant application process more accessible. Designed by SOUR in collaboration with people living with disabilities and a cross-discipline team at Wunderman Thompson led by Christina Mallon, Global Head of Inclusive Design at Wunderman Thompson, the prototype integrates key features to make the product handling and application accessible:

- A hooked design for one-handed usage  

- Magnetic closures that make it easier to take the cap off and put it back on for users with limited grip and/or vision impairment  

- Enhanced grip placement for easier application for users with limited grip or no arms 

- A braille label with instructions for users with vision impairment

"When Christina shared the concept with us, we started the broader conversation" said Inanc Eray, Partner at SOUR and designer on the project. "We gathered data and insights from the community to identify the design directives. Their expertise led the design." 

One in four Americans has a disability, yet many products and experiences are not designed with this community in mind (CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) SOUR continues to work on projects ranging from urban design to product design with inclusive research methodologies and processes, to create designs that are informed by all users and stakeholders.

Data Sheet
Typology: Product Design
Client: Unilever
Design: Inanc Eray (SOUR), Pinar Guvenc (SOUR), Christina Mallon-Michalove (Wunderman Thompson)
Design Team: Lidia Beatriz Peyronnet, Andrea Lopez de Mora, Mercedes Monjaime, Cecilia Rizzo, Keah Brown, Keisha Greaves, Natalie Trevonne, Lissa Loe, Marianne de Zeeuw, Irem Gocmenoglu, Nicholas Doghlass, Yasmine Abuzeid, Wunderman Thompson Argentina
Consultant, Occupational Therapy: Michael Tranquilli
Consultant, Psychology: Daniel Balva

Consultant, Prototyping: Mert Sezer

About SOUR
SOUR is an international award-winning architecture and design studio with the mission of addressing social and urban problems through sustainable, adaptive, and inclusive design processes. While the word, SOUR, is a play on the words social and urban, the meaning describes the studio's attitude. Like the process of sourdough making, the studio believes in taking the time: to research, synthesize, and ideate in order to generate data-inspired and purposeful design solutions. The world has spent enough time sugar-coating, it's time to confront, get real, and be SOUR.