As previously stated, our aim is to solve the innate issues concerning the ergonomics and behavioral adjustments to drinking tereré. However, another important concern is adapting the practice to better suit the habits and traditions of a demographic of elderly people in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This portion of our population tends to honor their heritage and convention of drinking chimarrão, a hot beverage akin to tea, in the usual way of serving themselves and passing it to whomever is also unwindind with them while chatting. Among the youth, this habit has been sometimes replaced with tereré, an iced alternative to this tea, which contains juice as a base. This allows for a more pleasant and refreshing drinking experience especially in warmer weather conditions, mostly those akin to Brazil’s climate.
The challenge is to solve its inherent issues stated in the previous briefing description, while also introducing it to our target demographic in a way that does not seem distant to what is traditional. Going from tea to tereré, from hot to iced.
Food-Related Traditions and Habits
Brazilian meals are exceedingly abundant, as they usually contain a vast variety of recipes, vegetables and carbohydrates all on the same table. In a sense, providing this much food is a symbol of pride in the eldery women who tend to prepare it.
Churrasco, or barbecue, is a social food practice usually done on the weekends, and in a way reflects the same values and principles of community and abundance that meals and tereré also share.
Café colonial, roughly translated to “colonial coffee” is a style of food of great variety, that brings together traditional food. Most of these are prepared by hand, or are not heavily processed, like cuca bread, linguiça sausage, colonial cheese, pressed coffee, cheese bread, polenta, pastel, among many others.
In a general sense, southern brazilian food habits are varied, most of it is bought, some of it is homemade, an some is picked up in local fairs or in road-side stores.
Daily necessities
Outdoor Activities and Exercise
The elderly in Rio Grande do Sul are not necessarily keen on outdoor activities, they are mostly reserved to social behaviours, such as visiting friends, going to church or church member’s houses to pray, and mothers’ groups. Some, due to health reasons, also partake in activities like swimming aerobics, pilates or just going on regular walks, as they otherwise lead a pretty inactive life.
Clothing preferences
During the summer, temperatures are quite high and conditions are mostly humid, as summer is the rainy season. Temperatures tend to reach 40 degrees Celsius sometimes. So, during this time, their wardrobes consist of floral blouses and sleeveless shirts, long knee-length shorts, light and airy dresses. On their feet, it is common to wear flip-flops, an extremely popular shoe style in Brazil, not just among the elderly. Due to its rubbery material, it provides comfort and less stress on the feet, while also allowing them to breathe due to its minimal material
During colder months, as the extreme south of Brazil reaches very low temperatures, garments change quite radically. These consist of wool cardigans, thermal clothing and lots of knits. Knitting and crochet are popular hobbies among this demographic, and it is common for these garments, gloves and jackets to be made themselves.
Work culture
In the countryside, some elderly people do grow cattle or chickens, farm for their food and generally keep busy by doing their day to day tasks. However, this isn’t a means of earning money, as most of them are retired and lead humble lives using the monthly share they receive from our National Social Security Institute.
Although some elderly people have their own hortas, small gardens from which some of their food or spices are grown, it is not common for elderly people to grow their own food in southern Brazil. Instead, they find value in their work when taking care of their grandchildren, when people appreciate their cooking, getting together among themselves or with family to drink chimarrão.
Entertainment
Brazilian entertainment is varied and vast. Common ways the elderly from our state escape from the mundane is through television programs or even the radio in some cases. Common programs such as novelas – soap operas with daily reproductions, documentary-style shows, and variety shows tend to grab their attention and serve as ways to socialize and comment on recent events in the latest episode of their favorite novela. Apart from these programs, other common channels shw recordings of religious masses or ceremonies.
The TV or the radio are usually more financially accessible, but some elderly people are more in tune with technology, and use social media platforms such as Facebook, Youtube and our chatting platform Whatsapp to communicate or entertain their daily routines.
Religion and Spirituality
Our state is mostly Christian, either Evengelical, Catholic or Kardecist Spiritist. A portion of this demographic identify as atheist or practice Umbanda, a brazilian religion with native and african roots, although this is a minority, considering the immigration patterns in our history. Generallt, of course with exceptions, going to mass and prayer are extremely common in this age group. Religion in Brazil is a convoluted topic, as our culture is extremely diverse, so it is not uncommon to have people from one religion also hold superstitions from other beliefs.
Chimarrão
A gaúcho tradition that is very upheld and celebrated is chimarrão, especially in this age group. Elderly people gather in their spare time, or when they have visitors over, to sit outside in beach chairs, passing around chimarrão, refilling it after each person drinks it, and chatting while it circles back to them. Similarly to digital entertainment, this also serves as a calming break on their daily tasks.
Despite the extreme hot weather, they are extremely loyal to this tradition, going as far as maintaining a certain time in the day to drink the same drink, all year round. In a way, it is difficult to suggest different ways to drink the same herbs in different contexts, like drinking tereré, a cold alternative of erva mate, the herb used, in warmer days. This suggestion and rethinking would allow the elderly to still partake in this local custom while refreshing themselves and making the experience more comfortable.
Hello, dear friends from Team 27!
I read this post which summarizes some of the habits and lifestyles of older people in your region of Brazil. But you’re not targeting a specific grandfather or grandmother as a specific user of the product that we’re going to design. Because according to our requirements, the design topic this time is not to design for a group, but to make a design gift for a person. So we need to know the grandfather or grandmother of one of your chosen members, his specific habits and preferences, such as his favorite colors, materials, pattern elements and so on.😊
Do you want us to create a product that can drink both Chimar ã o and Terer é, and that is acceptable to the elderly and makes them want to experience Terer é
Hello, dear friendsヾ(≧▽≦*)o!!!I am very pleased to see the introduction of your design problem, but we still have some questions that we don’t understand. We hope to get more detailed answers (if there are any repetitive questions from Team 2 members, please don’t reply again. We will review them together 💖):
1. Who is the target user of the cup we are designing? Is it a grandfather or grandmother? How old is he?
(Since I don’t know the gender of the target user at the moment, I will use “he” to refer to it in the following questions.)
2. Personal preferences
Colors and patterns: Does he have a preference for certain colors or specific patterns, so that we can design a cup that better meets his aesthetic preferences. 😁
Capacity size: Understanding his habitual tea drinking volume, whether he prefers a large cup or a small cup.
3. Usage habits
Holding method: How does he hold the cup, does he prefer a thin handle or a wide flat handle, or a straight cup without a handle?
Drinking frequency: How many times a day does he drink tea? Does he need a cup that can quickly cool down or keep warm for a long time?
Placement location: Where does he usually drink tea? In the living room, bedroom, or outdoors? This relates to the portability and anti-slip design of the cup.
4. Physical condition
Visual acuity: If his vision is poor, he may need larger font numbers or high-contrast colors.
Hand flexibility: Does he have arthritis or other conditions that affect hand flexibility, which will affect the shape and weight of the cup?
Oral health: If he has problems with sensitive teeth, he may need to consider the impact of the cup material on his oral health.
Looking forward to your reply.(●’◡’●)
Hello dear Qian!
We’ll try to reply to them as concisely as possible!
1. There’s not a single person it is meant to be designed for, we jusy have the idea to adapt this drint to a general demographic of elderly people in out state of Rio Grande do Sul.
2. Familiar colors are neutral browns, ocres and darker browns, as it is tradition. Some VERY important information about the tradition of the cup, is that it could be carved/cut out of porongo, a plant in the shape of the cup. This could be a valuable reference as to shape and color!
As for the capacity, about 400ml would be good, as it is drunk in its entirety, then passed around.
3. Traditionally, it doesn’t have a handle, and it is held with either one or two hands around the body of the cup.
It can be drunk a couple times in the day, and the cup itself keeps the liquid hot in chimarão. In tereré, our desired object, it depends on the material.
The tea is drunk outdoors, just outside the house, but it can also be drunk indoors.
4. Vision problems don’t seem to affect the usage, as it tends not to have any writing or bright colors, but it is an issue in our demographic.
Hand flexibility is also not an issue, as there are no small details or handles.
Oral health is an issue, as it is passed around in a circle, so a sick person may not be able to share in this habit. Apart from this, it is also drunk cold, so people with sensibilities may be affected.
Your briefing didn’t change the subject, but I was wondering if the older people in your area have any different problems or needs than the younger people when drinking this tea. What, if anything?
In addition, the elderly people mentioned in the “Chimarrao” section at the end of your article will insist on drinking Chimarrao even in hot seasons, and are not willing to accept terere drinking ice. Do you want us to make a Chimarrao or terere product for the elderly?🤔
Hello friends, what kind of containers do the elderly people in your area like to use to drink Chimar ã o? Can you send us some pictures of typical containers? What are the characteristics of these containers? What is the acceptable price range for elderly people in your area to drink Chimar ã o containers?
Hello team 27!Do elderly people in your country have any problems drinking Chimar ã o? Is it the same problem as the previous post about drinking tereré? Are the design requirements the same?
Hello XinYi!
It is a local practice, it is not generalized in the whole country.
As in the problems and requirements, they are different as chimarrão is drunk hot, not cold.
In this way, one of the issues we find with tereré is to bring it closer to something elderly people are used to – chimarrão. Not to modernize it into something unrecognizable.