Driven by the customer

Software and hardware have been developed to enable designers to suit their products not only for the young, fit and healthy, but also those with special challenges, too. If products were also designed to include all members of the population, this might well provide a much improved product experience and so increase sales to people that otherwise might not purchase them. Hence ‘Inclusive Design’, a concept being put forward by a consortium led by the Cambridge Engineering Design Centre. Introducing the idea at a seminar in Cambridge, research associate Dr Sam Waller said products fell into four categories: ’Finds easy’, ‘Frustrated’, ‘Has difficulty’ and ‘Excluded’. As an example of ‘Has difficulty’, he produced some product packaging that he defied anyone present to break into without tools. “I had to use a band saw to cut it open,” he told those present, “after giving up with bare hands and scissors.” As a contrast, he then produced a conical measuring jug with a scale on the inside, so a user could instantly see how far it had been filled, without having to put it down to check from the outside. The idea of Inclusive Design has been adopted by BT, which says it has been developing phones in consultation with disabled people for more than 10 years. The phones became popular with both disabled and non-disabled customers, and so the company incorporated features of these designs throughout their ranges. Research associate Dr Carlos Cardoso unveiled a collection of wearable items - such as gloves, knee fittings, an adapted climbing harness and goggles - that induced adjustable, partial restrictions on human joint movement or sight, so designers could try using products with controlled amounts of physical impairment. He pointed out that the average age of those buying new sports cars was 55, yet designers often made them extraordinarily difficult for potential customers to get in and out of, forcing many to seek out models with superior access. Poor design is a widespread problem. Not only do the disabled find some products difficult to use, but so do those suffering temporary impairments resulting from sprains, tiredness or even the effects of drink, for example. As part of the promotion of Inclusive Design, supported by BT, a new website - www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com - is to be launched on July 12 at the New Design Exhibition in London. The site covers seven limitations: locomotion, reach and stretch, vision, dexterity, hearing, communication and intellectual functioning. It includes calculators, so designers can consider possible limitations and then discover how many potential customers might be prevented from using their products - and to whom they might be able to sell, if they overcame these obstacles. Dr Waller says that the aim of this toolkit is to “explain what inclusive design is, why it is worthwhile and how to do it”. The content on the website represents the output from the I~design research programme, www-edc.eng.cam/idesign, which is a collaboration led by Professors John Clarkson and Roger Coleman, and sponsored by the EPSRC. Pointers * Inclusive design means designing for use by as many members of the population as possible * Impairments making use difficult or impossible include: locomotion, reach and stretch, vision, dexterity, hearing, communication and intellectual functioning * Not only the elderly and disabled suffer from impairments, but so do the young and fit, if suffering from injury or fatigue.