Inclusive Design as a path to resiliency and growth
By Ruth Tupe, Expert Associate Partner, Build by McKinsey
In March, we were lucky enough to not only attend the IxDA conference but host a workshop on inclusive design, where we spoke about an opportunity we had to drive holistic impact in design in the context of government services. This workshop explored a new concept of how inclusivity is not just a social imperative, but also a strategic way to build more resiliency into products and services.
Over the past few years, the accelerated pace of technological change combined with external forces to present a set of new challenges that force us to re-evaluate our systems and in turn, how to design them. From the pandemic to population growth to the rise of AI — the world as we know it is dramatically changing. These changes offer us up the opportunity to redesign out systems with inclusivity built in; it’s our job as designers to work with these changes when we’re designing, rather than against them:
- An aging population: As of 2020, almost 50% of people are living to be 65-74 years old in the US. With life expectancy higher than ever, this population offers up a massive potential workforce with a high level of professional knowledge and expertise. However, an aging population puts a strain on healthcare and the social welfare system.
- Growing socioeconomic divide: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted economic inequality on a global scale. The pandemic disproportionately affected those living in poverty and while many countries were plunged into economic turmoil, the richest got richer. In fact, research carried out by Oxfam shows that while 99% of humanity is financially worse off since the pandemic, the wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled, widening the economic divide.
- Technological progression: 35% of all businesses now report using AI as part of their day-to-day operations. Whilst some fear certain roles may get replaced by automation, it could drastically reduce the time employees spend on menial tasks, meaning businesses will have more capacity to do more complex work.
- Climate change: By now, most of us are aware of the effects of climate change but few know about the financial implications. Data shows that in the last five years, 89 climate disaster events cost $595.5B in the US alone. Now we are faced with the challenge of designing infrastructure that is resistant and able to withstand more extreme weather.
- Hybrid working: The COVID-19 pandemic created a new normal — ‘hybrid working’. A recent study showed that 38% of employees prefer this way of working and it’s not hard to see why with less commute time and better work-life balance. But it’s not without its issues; less face time with colleagues leads to a lack of connectivity in the workplace.
As these shifts occur, they can often disrupt our systems and widen the inequality gap. This leads to economic, social and political polarization, with the most disadvantaged populations bearing the brunt. For example, research shows that since the pandemic, the average income of those in the bottom 20% of earners has fallen by 6.7%.
Resiliency is a new mindset that we need to adopt. These unpredictable, novel disruptions are affecting every part of the way we live, work, and interact with the world. To deal with this we need to build resilience into every product and system we design so they can withstand shocks or surprises.
How do we become resilient to things we can’t even predict? The key is to consider inclusivity in everything we do. Traditionally, inclusivity is addressed by companies through a DEI initiative, meeting basic accessibility web requirements, or seen as a social imperative. But another way to think about inclusivity is that it puts resiliency into the fabric of solutions. When we create designs that serve a multitude of needs, for a wide array of users, that creates a more resilient design by nature. By considering a wide range of factors, use cases, and devices, you can integrate resilience into your designs from the off, rather than waiting to be reactive to a trigger.
So, how do we practice inclusive design?
First of all, it’s important to define what we actually mean. Inclusive design aims to build equitable experiences that serve the range and diversity of human backgrounds such as ability, age, culture, identity, and language persistently over time. We want to emphasize the longevity of a solution which is often overlooked. Inclusive experiences can only be possible by creating a system and tools to maintain that quality. When a new device, channel, or user group is introduced to your product or experience, are they still able to access it with the same experience parity?
This is not only important from an ethical standpoint, but from a business one too. There are a huge number of underserved communities in existence that represent a great deal of purchasing power; some experts put the figure as high as $12 trillion or more.
Over the past two years we’ve developed a set of principles that enable resilient, equitable and inclusive design:
- Broad: When designing, you must consider a wide range of users and be mindful of intersectionality.
- Deep: Do the work to really understand the experiences and unmet needs of potential users, including underlying systems of bias in play.
- Participatory: Invite users to the design process, designing “with” rather than designing “for”.
- Proactive: Plan for change. Anticipate unintended consequences by thinking through challenging “what-if” scenarios and prioritise building in the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.
- Measurable: Detect change. Listen for the earliest signals of harm or other unintended consequences. Build in the ability to measure and quantify from the beginning.
- Iterative: Enable solutions to evolve in response to changing user needs and circumstances by building a set of levers to adjust your solutions
Inclusive design in government services
One area where inclusivity and resiliency matter most is in government services. As a sector it makes a great case study because it is constantly under pressure to remain operational, regardless of what else is going on in the world — and the penalty for mistakes is high. For this reason, building resilience into government systems is integral and applying inclusive design principles is the best way to achieve this.
One great example is the design of Governor’s Island in New York City. The government knew that its coasts were vulnerable to storms and hurricanes so it decided to commission landscape architect Adriaan Geuze to design a solution. Understanding the impact that climate change is having on rising water levels, Adriaan knew that it was vital to raise the shore front of the island. In 2007 he proposed building 15 ft high hills along the southernmost part of the island to protect it from storm surges and flooding. In 2012 his design was put to the test when Hurricane Sandy hit New York, causing 200,000 homes to be destroyed and more than $50 billion worth of damage. But despite the extensive damage to Manhattan, Governor’s Island was left unscathed due to Adriaan’s well-designed flood barriers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikve-HCo9hw
This project was a main source of inspiration for us, so we applied similar inclusive design principles to an unemployment services journey to see how we can build a more resilient experience for citizens. We went through a 3-step process to analyze the problem with an inclusive lens:
- Understanding symptoms of bias — Beyond personas, we believe greater empathy lies in taking a moment to reflect on potential prejudices and biases people may encounter. To trigger these discussions, we supplemented personas with ‘Ability’ and ‘Identity’ cards to understand intersectionality.
- Generate inclusive interventions with clear ROI — We encouraged participants to not just ideate but to consider how their solution would bring business value to the organization.
- Test the resiliency of your solutions — After participants created solutions, we did future scenario planning by getting participants to draw trend cards to see if their solutions would still survive (e.g., if a hurricane happened, would you solution still work)
Overall, participants came up with innovative solutions to re-imagine government services that they never would have thought of before. One of the most innovative ideas that came out of the workshop was a “dating” app for pairing employees looking for work with employers. The app would allow employees to be matched quickly and efficiently with jobs that are suitable for them. The app would very much be human-centric, allowing employees and employers to ‘date’ one another on a trial basis to make sure they’re a good fit. Another idea that stuck out to us was using an AI coach to guide candidates through the job interview process, allowing them to do practice runs to build up their confidence. The AI would also have the capacity to break down language barriers throughout the job application process by coaching the applicant in their native language. The concepts and ideas generated during this workshop are a great example of how our approach to inclusive design can open the door for creativity and innovation.
Through this structured approach, we reframed inclusivity not as feel-good initiative but a strategic play with business case rationale. Too often, inclusivity initiatives are not taken seriously and deprioritized because it’s seen as a compliance activity rather than a long-term investment. It’s time to shift the conversation on what inclusivity means and utilize it properly to maximize its impact both socially and in business.
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Additional reading:
https://www.ibm.com/watson/resources/ai-adoption
https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/#otp_evidence
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/390632/future-hybrid-work-key-questions-answered-data.aspx
