Adaptdefy

LapStacker by Adaptdefy is the world’s first and only retractable carry system for your wheelchair.

Project Information

Client Adaptdefy

Industry Consumer Products,

Services New Product Development, User Experience Service Design

Key Outcomes

One

Two

Three

Four

Overview

In 2012 Adapdefy’s founder went from fit, healthy and standing, to paralyzed from the waist down after being hit by a car while skateboarding. This life changing incident triggered a desire to help people adapt and defy.

LapStacker solves a common, everyday problem for people in wheelchairs universally.

Frame

According to the World Health Organization there are more than 65 million wheelchair users worldwide. For as long as people have been using wheelchairs independently, they have struggled to carry things on their lap. It can be extremely embarrassing, frustrating and costly dropping things. Eventually this embarrassment and frustration boiled over - into action.

This social good project is a story about helping people thrive. About rallying a slew of professionals over diverse trades to give their time, knowledge and expertise in a mission to solve a universal problem for people in wheelchairs everywhere.

Our Approach

At first it sounded easy: lets put some pull straps, a clip and buckle, on the [wheel] chair - and boom! But like any good design endeavour, everyone soon learned the art really is in the detail.

This simple concept for a tension or retractable strap for holding things on your lap morphed into an extensive R&D project. There were many many prototypes, a Kickstarter campaign, and then eventually manufacturing and production. Just when we thought we were freewheeling, Covid hit.

Taking on board all the feedback from initial customers, this team of adaptdefy-ers stayed in it, and completely redesigned LapStacker, making it lighter, cheaper and easier to install. This sounded simple, but was far from it.

There are hundreds of different types of wheelchairs the LapStacker range can seamlessly fit. One of the bigger challenges, was to design an accessible user experience, making it easy for customers to correctly choice the right LapStacker based on their chair type.

Outcome

Lapstacker is the world’s first and only retractable carry system for your wheelchair. Weighing less than a can of fizzy drink, it easily attaches to most wheelchairs without compromising chair performance.

Novel finger loops make pulling the straps together a pleasure, even if hand function is limited. The magnetic buckles snap together like magic, securing items like your laptop, lunch or basket of groceries in a flash. It’s effortless and intuitive. The real secret source lies in the retractors, which mount to each side of the chair. This retractor system provides smart dynamic load resistance to secure your items. It holds everything, even a kitchen sink! Plus, it is super easy to install (it can be installed in less than five minutes).