The Benefits of Inclusive Design

International Day for People with Disabilities on 3rd December highlighted the barriers that people face when undertaking everyday day tasks.  There is an increasing need for awareness of inclusive design:

• approximately 15% of the world’s population has a disability
• by 2015 20% of the world’s population will be aged over 65 years.
• one fifth of adult Europeans have difficulty carrying out everyday tasks.

The problem

Difficulties in undertaking daily tasks are often because products are designed for young, fit people without disabilities.  The result is that disabled people are forced to purchase expensive aids and adaptations to assist them or risk becoming dependent upon others.  As well as preventing people with disabilities from carrying out simple tasks with ease or dignity, this design philosophy does not make business sense.  By ‘designing out’ a significant proportion of the population, businesses are losing a significant market share and customer base.

The solution

To rectify the situation, designers need to adopt a user-centred design approach and design inclusively for the whole population.  This involves embracing inclusive design ideas and focusing on people with disabilities from the outset to create products, housing and transportation that are easy to use by all.  When designing for the minority, the outcome is something that has features that appeal and are appreciated by everyone.  The market is not only opened up to people with disabilities, but the product also has a unique advantage against its competitors in terms of ease of use.

For example

One example of where an inclusive design approach has given a product a market edge amongst its competitors is OXO Good Grips cooking tools and utensils.  The company considered the needs of the entire population from the outset; young and old, male and female, left and right-handed people and many people with disabilities and/or specific needs.  As a result, they produced a large range of ergonomically designed tools that exceeded consumer expectations for both comfort and performance.  The aesthetically-pleasing, comfortable and easy to use designs have been a great success amongst a wide user population and the range has since won numerous awards; including awards from the Arthritis Foundation.

The rationale

In the past there has been some resistance to adopting an inclusive design approach and a number of common myths still exist.  Companies thought the process would be too costly and an inclusively designed product impossible to achieve, while designers thought their creativity and ability to innovate would be supressed.

However, the truth is that adopting a user-centred design strategy is more cost-effective in the long-run because it reduces the cost and effort of fixing usability problems later down the line.  Accessing a wider customer base will inevitably result in net savings through increased sales.  Inclusive design is both practical and achievable as the majority of people can be accommodated by relatively small design changes, the majority of which cost very little.  It does not mean uniform or utilitarian products; in fact it often stimulates creativity by forcing designers to think outside the box and consider alternative users.

If you would like to find out more about how you can adopt a user centred design approach to produce an inclusively designed product, please feel free to contact us.