Table of Contents
Introduction
he theme of our group is ‘user and technology’. We gathered our data through interviewing and focusing deeply into the academic publications and research projects of three design leaders involved with pushing forward the inclusiveness and accessibility design field. First we start defining the terms, ‘User’, ‘Technology’, and the relationship between these concepts.
The theme USER and TECHNOLOGY aims to focus on the user perspective and experience while using technology in the inclusive design process.
What is a ‘user’?
The USER, is everyone who’s affected by the design intended, whether it is a product,system or service.
When talking about ‘user’ in product development, the important factors that should be taken into consideration are the ‘user’s need’ as well as the ‘scenario’ around that specific need. Statement of user needs explains a user goal or expectation and offers insight into the customer priorities. It guides designers through the entire process of product development. After defining the needs and aspirations of the user, scenarios should be defined to fulfill each need and help designers get to know more about the users.
Recent approaches to the product development, put the ‘user’ in the center and focus of the design process and even involve them in the early stage of ideation and design development. Therefore, the meaning of ‘user’ has been transformed from a passive end-user to an active user who is being actively engaged in different stages of the design process. This transformation in defining and positioning the ‘user’ in the design development process is of great importance especially when we are designing for a stream and specific group of society. Julia Cassim, Professor of Inclusive Design at Kyoto Institute of Technology, emphasizes the importance of engaging users in the early stages of developing design ideas and even she was not willing to use the word ‘user’ and used the word ‘design partners’ to describe users.
I don’t use the word ‘users’. I use the word ‘design partners’. And I think the process which you get engaged with users and the time within the design projects where you start at are very crucial. So, having users to be at the end of the project is useless. Having design partners in the early stages where you are developing design ideas where you are in the process of kind of iterative discussion is very important. So, that is the key thing
J. Cassim, personal communication, November 8, 2017
What is technology?
TECHNOLOGY is the tool necessary to develop concepts in which the primary objective is the propulsion of human nature, this may not always lead to positive outcomes.
What is the relation between user and technology?
Today technology is closely related to every single thing we do, from the most basic aspects of quotidian to the most complex. Given that the ability of the user is a diverse spectrum, at the point of contact with technology, a bunch of challenges arise. Users who may not be familiar with technology, or who may suffer from some disability, are the main victims of these issues. Some of these issues, for example, come from computing and user interfaces, where the technology still poses accessibility challenges for disabled people and older generations.
The theme USER and TECHNOLOGY aims to focus on the user perspective and experience while using technology in the inclusive design process.
Technology can be used to improve the physical, digital aspects and web accessibility. So, we decided to interview a leader in each aspect.
Part 1: Team Case Study Interviews of Accessible/ Inclusive Design Leaders
Purpose
Expand the knowledge on the basic concepts of accessibility and inclusive design.
Understanding how leaders in the academic community address the subject.
Clearer understanding of when, how and what the leaders are focusing on, when approaching inclusive design and accessibility challenges for the user and the technology surrounding them.
Introducing the leaders
Since technology can assist in developing physical, digital and web accessibility of the products, each of us invited one leader to participate in our study who specialized in one of these areas:
Jutta Treviranus
Jutta Treviranus is the Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) and professor at OCAD University in Toronto http://inclusivedesign.ca, formerly the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre. The IDRC conducts proactive research and development in the inclusive design of emerging information and communication technology and practices. Ms. Treviranus also heads the Inclusive Design Institute, a multi-university regional centre of expertise on inclusive design. She is the Co-Director of Raising the Floor International. She also established and directs an innovative graduate program in Inclusive Design at OCADU.
Interests
Her particular areas of research interest are:
- leveraging networks to deliver personalized accessibility
- supporting inclusive design through authoring and development tools
- the importance of diversity, the outliers and the margins for economic and social prosperity
Charudutta Jadhav
Charudatta Jadhav is the Head of the Accessibility Center of Excellence at Tata Consultancy Services, he is also the president of the International Braille Chess Association. His work focuses on Formulating Accessibility Business Strategy, managing Accessibility Research and Innovation, and building solutions that offer a much better experience for mainstream users in addition to being accessible. He is involved in the research for developing Adaptive technology products to help the disabled in education and employability.
Julia Cassim
Julia Cassim is a professor at Kyoto Institute of Technology in Japan. Her main research focus is on the development of creative partnerships between people with disabilities and designers. She is looking for different ways to engage people with disabilities in the design process in order to promote innovative, and inclusive thinking. She directed the Challenge Workshops at the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design until July 2011 and is still running the Workshops as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow. The DBA Design Challenge is organised annually by the Royal College of Art (RCA) Helen Hamlyn Centre (HHC) in collaboration with the Design Business Association (DBA) in the UK. Design consultancies are grouped with disabled users and challenged to create innovative scenarios for new inclusive products and services.
Research Interview Questions
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Introduction to concepts
- Can you tell us briefly about your work in the area of inclusive design?
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Personal Experience
- How do you know as an inclusive designer you are designing appropriately for users?
- What are the most effective guidelines/ frameworks for inclusive design in your area of research? OR What sort of user oriented methods do you use?
- What sort of user data do you take into consideration? And how do you get this data?
- Related to inclusive media and design, how can inclusive design make technology better for everyone?
- How has your approach towards inclusive design changed with time?
- What would be your suggestions to the junior designers interested in inclusive and accessible design?
- How can we determine whether a technology, product or application is accessible enough or not?
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Challenges
- As a designer, what challenges do you face related to your specific area in inclusive design?
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Where is it going
- Where do you expect your work to go in the next few years?
Interview
- Balancing Aesthetic and Functionality in Inclusive and Smart Clothing
- Challenges of Inclusive Design
- Human Values for an Inclusive Web
The answers to our 10 questions fit into 4 broad themes:
WHAT is the common understanding of inclusive design and its principles?
Cassim
“There is always a huge debate around the terminology. In Japan and in the United States the phrase ‘universal design’ is used whereas in the UK and Europe the terminology of ‘design for all’ or ‘inclusive design’ is preferred. I prefer inclusive design. The problems with the phrase universal design is the lack of relevance to the third world, you can never design anything that is universal to everyone.”
Jadhav
“People get confused between accessible and inclusive design, universal design and principle”
“The blend of technical and empathy skillset is required to understand the underlying principles & philosophies of accessibility and universal design guidelines.”
Common Argument
There is an inconsistency in the understanding of concepts, principles and guidelines across stakeholders
HOW are the leaders working towards inclusive design development?
Cassim
Integrating disabled people especially young individuals who are often digitally literate into the design process and co-design with them to create new inclusive products, environments, and services.
Jadhav
“I am working on the core issues of how we can come up with a knowledge base, with innovative processes, that help designers give a larger canvas to design”
“We map where the empathy lies in the design process.”
“It’s very difficult to get the specific needs of the people with disability because that kind of data is not there.”
“Compliance is not sufficient to ensure that they(guidelines) serve everybody.”
Treviranus
“Changing our views of time,space and distance and by extension our view of design enabled by digital technologies.”
Addressing accessibility legislation and policies, special service delivery processes globally
Scarcity framing & windowing of learning paths
- Inclusive learning
- Open education
- Distributed authority & certification
- Diversification and personalisation supported by connected learning
Common Argument
Beyond guidelines, resources are fragmented and isolated. But technology is enabling a new set of tools for stretching boundaries.
Physical and digital aspects of data gathering are being boosted by technology (challenge).
WHY is inclusive design not as commonplace as it should be?
Cassim
“We have to build different scenarios around that. In other words, different scenarios of use, which are tied to very different situations. So, it might work for the visually impaired person who is technologically literate, but it might not work with someone with low vision who is not technology literate.”
“We have to integrate with a range of different scenarios based both on ergonomics as well as cognition.”
Jadhav
“Even with the required empathy and skillsets, there are specific needs that come with specific scenarios.”
“Comprehensive knowledge is not available for the impact of disability on technology literacy today.”
Treviranus
“Diversity and difference become overwhelming and we develop strategies to deal with this diversity.”
“In the past we created for groups called “average or typical”, this left out everyone else.”
“There are problems with how digital technologies are developed.”
“We cannot keep up with development.”
“Former education systems are very resistant to change.”
Common Argument
The diversity of the human condition produces too many problems to solve, creating a wicked problem.
As a result, there is a lack of empathy, and all stakeholders see designing for disabilities as an additional requirement.
WHERE is inclusive design going?
Cassim
“The area that really engages me now is the inclusive process, particularly the work with people with disabilities in the sheltered workshops. How can you use design as a tool to transform the situation, but creatively and economically?”
Jadhav
” I see inclusive design catering to all users and everyone becoming sensitive to it. People talk about design thinking, I talk about accessible thinking.”
“Mutual understanding of the role of inclusive design in products.”
Treviranus
“We want to create a structure in cooperation with other partners around the world.”
“Envisions an educational environment that matches our individual learning needs.”
Common Argument
Inclusive design comes from addressing every user, not only mainstream users. No one size fits all.
Inclusive design is going towards a common understanding, and a common stable platform to understand/educate/develop/update.
Conclusion
Through the case studies, and the insight and knowledge gathered through the work of leaders we understood the key contributions of their efforts in the area of inclusive design in which ‘user and technology’ are core factors. We summarize the main points of the case studies about ‘user’, and ‘technology’ below:
Involving the users at every stage to understand the diversity of their needs is required. Empathy and human value is an integral part of many different forms of design. We should learn how people adapt to the world around them by spending time understanding their experiences from their own perspective; recognizing not just the barriers but also the motivations that people have in common. For empathy all stakeholders need to use technology from the perspective of a disable user and also understand that these processes will enhance the experience of mainstream users. We are moving towards having a common platform to share knowledge, insights and processes that fit the holistic needs of our society.
ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVE DESIGN CASE STUDIES 