Inclusive Design

What is inclusive design?

Inclusive design incorporates as many people as possible who can use a product or service without the need to adjust or adapt it.

This means that it embraces all human diversity, taking into account aspects such as ability, language, culture, gender, age or any other form of human differentiation we can think of. 

We recognise that we are not all the same, and we apply this today to any sector, be it politics, customer services, infrastructure, technologies and even everyday products. how can we design so that we are all represented? 

The advantage of inclusive design

The advantage of inclusive design is that most people can use the same product or service, without the need to adjust or adapt it to our needs. 

Users do not detect if there is a specific functionality designed for people with disabilities, people only perceive conveniences for all, this is inclusion.

Let’s look at how disability has played a key role in the development of innovations that we all use today.

Deafness played a key role in the invention of the telephone, the Internet and text messaging. 

Alexander Graham Bell obtained the first patent for the telephone in the USA in 1876, his mother and wife were both deaf, which profoundly influenced his research into hearing and speech. In addition to the telephone, he developed experiments with hearing devices. 

Another everyday instrument developed thanks to blindness is the typewriter. The first was invented in 1802 by Agostini Fantoni, so that his blind sister could write. 

Two hundred and twenty years later, it is an everyday invention, it has evolved a lot, we have improved the design but the basis remains the same. 

And finally, the remote control, initially designed for people with reduced mobility. We have seen that it has endless applications, from video games to drones, opening doors, turning on lights and has been key in the home automation sector, as through a remote control, using a phone, the internet or a tablet, we can automate a home or building.

Inclusive design as a solution

If we focus on solving the problems of excluded people, in this case people with disabilities, we achieve improvements and innovations that are useful for the whole population.

It has been proven that the application of inclusive design has multiple benefits, generates great value, provides competitiveness, increases income and customers and, obviously, improves the social image of the organisation.

So, in conclusion, we all benefit from accessibility, because disability affects all Human Diversity.

Designing for people with disabilities will lead to innovation, it will lead to creating value, we will have more guarantees of success, and more people will benefit from and use our products.

If a product is not accessible it is not well designed!

Image: Ana Arija. MovingMood contributor.

Discover our professional training programmes and courses on inclusive fashion and start designing a more inclusive world. All Abilities Fashion Courses