My Understanding of Inclusive Design
Written in May 2022 for my MSc New Media Design at Tilburg University.
What is inclusive design?
With the increase in the number of people on Earth and the increase in the average end-of-life age, there are more and more people are showing signs of impairments. These impairments can either appear with advancing age, or they relate to special medical conditions. The elderly and disabled may require separate attention from the general population in the everyday use of their products and services. Inclusion can also take different approaches such as cultural, political, or historical situations. However, there is always a social aspect to it. Because products and services have mainly been designed for the more general population (the society that impacts the economy), social poverty and social exclusion emerge consequently. Those who cannot use them are being disabled against their wishes by society. With the emergence of multiple laws in the world prohibiting discrimination against any particular group and the right to use products and services on an equal access basis, it is essential to start designing for the growth of social inclusion, equality, and equity. Quality of life for all populations should not require any particular knowledge or skills, and designers should build a barrier-free environment for all, regarding of the cause. In order to create inclusive design, it is important that no one is excluded from accessing these products or services.
Each part of the world has different definitions of inclusive design, they even have their own similar concepts that are used in a similar way (Dong, 2013; see Table 1). However, inclusive design is a term used in the UK that designates “The design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible … without the need for special adaptation or specialized design” (British Standards Institute, 2005). Whether it be “Design for All” in continental Europe, “Universal Design” in the US or Japan, or accessible design in general, inclusive design is emerging altogether.
Inclusive Design (UK): “The design of mainstream products and/or services that are accessible to, and usable by, as many people as reasonably possible (…) without the need for special adaptation or specialized design” (British Standards Institute, 2005).
Universal Design (US and Japan): “An approach to design that incorporates products as well as building features which, to the greatest extent possible, can be used by everyone” (Mace, 1985).
Design for All (Continental Europe): “The designing of products, services and systems that are flexible enough to be directly used, without assistive devices or modifications, by people within the widest range of abilities and circumstances as is commercially practical” (Porrero and Ballabio, 1998).
Accessible design: “Maximizing the number of potential customers who can readily use a product. While no product can be readily used by everyone, accessible design can impact market size and market share through consideration of the functional needs of all consumers, including those who experience functional limitations as a result of aging or disabling conditions” (TIA Access, 1996).
Products and services that are usable for all means the use of user-centered design practice. This means that designers have to focus first on the users and their needs before reflecting on their own requirements. It is necessary to build interfaces iteratively by alternating between designing and evaluating usability with the users. For more insight, it is interesting to focus on heuristic evaluations to understand the fundamental nature of interactions. These interactions can be perception, cognition, and motor functions that need to be addressed according to the user’s capabilities. They can have a cognitive, emotional, social, and/or value dimension.
What are some methods used for inclusive design?
There are two main approaches to designing an interface that would be accessible to different needs. The first one is called adaptive. It is when a designer creates an application and adapts it respectively to specific users. The second one is fundamentally the opposite and is called proactive. It is when a designer focuses on the needs of a particular user at the very beginning of the design process and later tries to include a wider range of populations. Both approaches have merit, however, to a degree, the end product is not exactly the same. After a designer chooses the approach they meant to work with, they can apply a 5-level model to their design methodology. Keates et al. (2000) proposed a model that will examine the effectiveness and usability of a product or service in order to affect the overall usability for inclusive design (see Figure 1). The first level of this model tries to identify the user requirements for a problem (e.g., “What does the user need?”). The second level is meant to create a representation of the current system from a user perspective (e.g., “How does the user receive information from?”). The third level tries to understand the user cognition to match the interactions with the user’s expectations (e.g., “Does the user understand what is happening?”). The fourth level is applied to understand the user’s motor function and how much freedom and control the product is offering (e.g., “What are the physical demands on the user?”). Lastly, the fifth level is used to evaluate and validate the usability and accessibility of the product (e.g., “Does the user have access to all features without requiring specific knowledge or skills?”). For each level of this model, verification with the users is necessary to evaluate and iterate on the design process.
Reflection on ethical considerations
It is difficult to tell designers that there is a specific way of doing inclusive design. Research only offers guidance. Furthermore, nowadays, there is still lots of limitations and barriers that impede the implementation of inclusive design: lack of regulations, guidelines, standards, training, lack of time and budget, and the multitude of definition to characterize inclusive design that prevents the good understanding of this fundamental concept. Ethically, it must be hard to find the right product or service when it is not a concept that is clearly defined. However, designers must try their best and continue to create inclusive designs in order to enhance social integration and participation.
References
Keates, S. (2005). BS 7000–6: 2005 Design management systems. Managing inclusive design. Guide.
Dong, H (2013) ‘Global Perspectives and Reflections’ Trend Spotting at UD2012Oslo. Trends in Universal Design.
Keates, S., Clarkson, P. J., Harrison, L. A., & Robinson, P. (2000, November). Towards a practical inclusive design approach. In Proceedings on the 2000 conference on Universal Usability (pp. 45–52).
Lim, Y. (2018, May). Psychosocial Inclusivity in Design: A Definition and Dimensions. Brunel University London.
Mace, R. (1985). Universal Design: Barrier Free Environments for Everyone. Los Angeles, CA: Designers West.
Porrero, I.P. and Ballabio, E. eds. (1998). Improving the quality of life for the European citizen: technology for inclusive design and equality (Vol. 4). John Wiley & Sons.
TIA Access. (1996). Resource guide for accessible design of consumer electronics. Electronic Industries Alliance/Electronic Industries Foundation. Retrieved January 9, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.tiaonline.org/access/guide.html
