The problem that I came upon was having to touch the handrails on a subway. I have always been “icked” out from touching the handrails and tried avoiding it at every measure possible. Whether it was holding the rail with my sleeve or strictly playing the balance game and hoping not to fall over on anyone near me. There was an evident problem there and I noticed I was definitely not the only person who felt the same way.

 

I believe the problem is important for many different reasons. First off being that we are in an immense pandemic that has clearly impacted the way New Yorkers travel. The public transportation rate in the last 2 years since the pandemic has started has been down on the average of 70%. There is a clear distinction that people do not feel safe going back onto crowded subways. This product will create a barrier for people when getting on the subways, they will not need to touch anything that can contain germs and viruses. Not only will this product protect from germs, another problem it solves is when you are on a crowded subway and there is no room to hold onto a handrail you end up having to balance and fall over on people. This product creates a strong bond between you and a handrail with a 1-foot distance. It allows you to hold on comfortable and still have a strong grip to the rail ensuring that you won’t fall over.

 

There were 5 different kinds of solutions. The first one being my idea which is a handle strap that hooks onto the handrail. The second idea is a reusable napkin that someone can use to hold onto to handrail. The third idea is a plastic hook that can latch onto the handrail and allows someone to hold onto the handrail. The fourth idea was someone improvising using a plastic bag or a sleeve from a shirt to hold onto the rail in order not to touch it with you hand. Lastly, the final idea was using a claw that’s similar to the ones you use to pick up garbage with to hold onto the railing.

 

The feedback of those ideas was that most of them just didn’t make sense. For the simple reason that carrying an item that was big and chunky isn’t practical on a day-to-day use. Which is why the idea of the strap that can be reused, washed, and is compactable makes the most sense. The idea that people use sleeves is super common and often seen a lot but that is simply not the right solution for a real-world problem. The napkin idea was more practical cause it was easily carried but can easily be misplaced and lost.

 

The most common reaction I got from people who use the subway on a daily commute was that they tended to love the idea. It made a lot of sense to them and can understand why someone would by it. Although, there is smaller percentage that gave me an issue regarding the way you would put on a strap can cause you to touch the pole by accident. Overall, it was pretty evident that most people were fascinated with the idea and actually had the same problem I had when riding the subway which was hating to touch the filthy handrail on public transportation.

 

The newest and greatest solution was to continue with the main idea of a nylon strap like material that would be able to be connected to the handrail without your physical hands having to touch the pole. This strap can be made super compacted, washer friendly, germ resistant, and be reused. Vs a product like a plastic hanger that is used to hang clothing although it may be able to do the trick regarding not having to touch the handrail the hanger isn’t compacted and doesn’t make it practical for an everyday use. This is why I believe that the nylon strap is the best solution for this problem.