Putting inclusive design at the heart of product and service development
Picture this: a world where digital products and services work like magic for every single person. No one is left behind, and everyone can effortlessly accomplish their goals. Simple, right? Unfortunately, not always.
For years, we’ve been captivated by the notion of getting features “about 80% right” and tackling edge cases and exceptions later. It’s practical, no doubt, but here’s the catch: we tend to forget about the people we leave behind when we focus solely on the features. People aren’t edge cases.
Being a B Corp with a mission to ‘Design Better Futures’ means that at Magnetic we strive to never leave anyone behind with the products we create and to do this, we need to make sure there’s an inclusive proposition for the user at the heart of everything we design. That way, you know that the core proposition will work for everyone in the target audience from Day 1.
Exceptional products ensure that everyone can experience the benefits they offer by delivering ease, efficiency, and even fun while using them. It’s time to stop designing for so-called “normal” or “typical” users (these are two of the worst ways of describing people, anyway!).
Consider that the Financial Conduct Authority now believes 47% of us will be experiencing some sort of vulnerability at any given time (which means many more of us will experience vulnerability at one point or another) and its new Consumer Mandate means FS firms need to protect and cater to ANY customer who can become vulnerable. This means that catering to ‘vulnerability’ (previously “the elderly who don’t use the internet anyway”) can’t be put in a pile of ‘edge cases’ when designing products.
To design inclusively, we lean into vulnerability in our design process so we understand the needs of vulnerable users and use these as the inspiration for design that can deliver value to every user. If your idea is inclusive from the start, your MVP (or similar) will be inclusive from the get go. Some examples include:
- We investigated how the needs of vulnerable (especially older) customers could apply more widely to helping everyone feel more safe at home and get better insurance rates with Sky Protect.
- Turning a brief to ‘sell more smart home tech’ to customers living in an area where most were financially vulnerable into one that sold the tech to building owners so they could offer warmer, dryer, safer homes to their financially vulnerable residents.
- Identifying that when couples (yes, not just women) are having a crisis on their family-building journey the thing they need more than any other content or service is a trusted-voice they can talk to and finding a way to deliver this. — Simply Health
- We’ve listened vulnerable customers and their attitudes towards digital banking, uncovering areas to improve their digital experience in FS. — NOVA, Newton
If you want to talk to us about creating game changing work like this, get in touch: jason.daponte@wearemagnetic.com.
