Make packages easy to open
Michael Wiklund, Kimmy Ansems, Rachel Aronchick, Cory Costantino, Alix Dorfman, Brenda van Geel, Jonathan Kendler, Valerie Ng, Ruben Post, Jon Tilliss · 2019
Difficult-to-open packaging can lead to more than “wrap rage.” In 2004 alone, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated that around 6,500 people went to the emergency room with plastic packaging-related injuries. The packages almost certainly prioritized theft and tampering prevention over ease of opening and discounted the potential for the difficult-to-open packaging to cause injury. Difficult-to-open packages have created a market for products designed to make opening packages safer and easier. Most people are likely to agree that the opening process should not require undue strain or expose people to sharp edges. A simple and conspicuous instruction can frequently turn an epic struggle with a package into a satisfying or at least benign experience. Packages that have been designed to be opened safely without the need for special tools or opening instructions are perhaps even better. For convenience and sometimes for safety’s sake, packages should not require special tools to open them.