Adaptive Design - Let's Talk About Cup Holder

Cup holders are useful in all sorts of scenarios, such as in a movie theater or on a plane journey, but when you think about cup holders, the thing that probably comes to mind is the cup holders in your car.

Cup holders became more prevalent after the 1994 lawsuit in which an Albuquerque woman successfully sued McDonald’s after spilling a hot cup of coffee in her lap in a car with no cup holders, which resulted in such severe burns that skin grafts were required.

Small

Cup holders which are considered to be small will usually have a diameter measurement of fewer than 3 inches. You would typically find these attached to a child’s car seat because they use water bottles that have an average diameter measurement of 2.5 inches.

In the console compartment of a car, you may find two different sizes of cup holders; one which is small and one which is regular. The small size will allow the cup holder to hold a smaller cup more securely so that it doesn’t wobble while the car is moving and spill the contents.

Regular

Regular-sized cup holders have a diameter measurement of a little over 3 inches to accommodate cups or bottles which are 3 inches wide. Many standard-sized cup holders will measure 3.15 inches in diameter, and this enables them to be used for standard soda cans, small-sized water bottles, or small to medium-sized take-out coffee cups.

Large

Large cup holders are suited for oversized beverages such as jumbo water bottles and extra-large coffee cups. These cup holders have a diameter measurement of approximately 4 inches.

Two-tier

Two-tier cup holders are a combination of regular and large cup holders. The will have a narrow base, the same size as a regular cup holder, and halfway up the height of the cup; the diameter will become bigger to reach the size of a large cup holder as the body of the holder juts out.

Two-Tier Cup not only fits in smaller holders but also increases the capacity.

This two-tier type of cup holder means that it can be used to hold regular or large-sized drinks, making it more versatile than a regular cup holder; however, it does offer slightly less stability. This is because two-tier cup holders are usually only the same depth as ordinary cup holders, which is typically 2.25 inches.

Cups do not come in only one shape. Juice and milk are often packaged in gable-top cartons. For example, in Taiwan, there are even cup holders designed with a combination of square and round openings to accommodate different types of packaging.

The design you can see in tour buses.

Product design is a constant dialogue between objects and human needs. The examples above clearly demonstrate how design can adapt to different situations and use cases.

As people's needs change, designs must evolve as well. For example, when there was a need to increase the capacity of a drink, we designed a two-tier cup that allowed for greater capacity without requiring changes to the existing cup holder, maintaining universal compatibility. We also designed a new cup holder that could accommodate both round and square packaging.

The next time you design a product, ask yourself: Can you preserve its current affordances while also adapting it to meet new needs and different scenarios?