Skip to the case study

Yazan Fuqaha Interaction designer

Product interaction · 2026

One Pinch

A shaker that tells you how much salt you just added.

One press: ≈ 0.25 g
One hand: either thumb
Four parts: printed, no springs

Role: Problem framing, interaction design, CAD, two prototypes
Made with: Parametric CAD, Blender, print-ready files
Status: Print-ready prototype

You are told to eat under 5 g of salt a day.
Your shaker tells you nothing.

Make one pinch the unit.

Every press, the same dose. You count presses, not grams.

Who it has to work for.

Arthritis
No twisting.
A tremor
Shaking does nothing.
Low vision
Heard and felt, not read.
One hand
The other hand is busy.

Prototype one: twist the cap. Discarded.

Concept board for version one: the twist cap, the dose window, the quarter-turn refill base and how one pinch leaves the pocket — Twist to dose, refill from below.

Render of the first version: a square glass body with a domed steel cap — See how much is left.

Close render of the twist cap, its dose window and the outlet holes — One pinch waits in the window.

Render of the shaker upside down with the quarter-turn base removed for refilling — Refill from below.

Exploded render of the first version: body, rotor, cap and base — Four parts.

The twist, in twenty seconds.

It needed two hands.

The dose worked. The twist ruled out everyone on that list, so it went.

The design: press it with your thumb.

Same dose. Press once, feel the click, one pinch lands. Either hand.

Concept board for version two: the thumb lever, the pawl and ramp teeth, and the rest, squeeze and release sequence — Hold, flip, press.

Printed, the thumb piece became a bar.

A sliding bar with a button at each end. Press one, the other pops out. No hinge, no spring.

Point at it and it goes together.

Technical views of both mechanisms: exploded, section and top view of the rotor and the shuttle — The pocket never opens to salt and food at once.

The number you actually live with.

0.25 gone press

20presses in a 5 g day

4 to 8presses left after bread, cheese and packets

So the count should come from a doctor, not the 5 g headline.

Two prototypes, one dose.

What it does not do.

~~Lowers blood pressure~~It counts salt. That is all.
~~Any salt~~Coarse salt gives a lighter pinch.
~~Any speed~~A very slow press lets a little through.

Nobody should have to guess at a gram.

Something people keep getting wrong?

Or write to yazan1fu@outlook.com · LinkedIn ↗