Facilitating Wider Uptake of Inclusive Design

Inclusive design aims to push the market whose traditional focus is the young and able to include older people and those with disabilities. Inclusive design benefits everyone. The wider uptake of inclusive design will enhance UK's competitiveness and improve the quality of life of the whole population. The level of inclusivity of products across businesses is still very low. Existing resources for inclusive design have been focused on novice designers but little support is available for experienced designers who need in-depth user data. Few existing inclusive design tools have integrated conventional anthropometric data that designers typically adopt when applying inclusive design principles. In order to facilitate wider uptake of inclusive design, integrating anthropometric data into inclusive design tools has to be considered. However, visualisation of user data for inclusive design has been a challenge. There is a need to find innovative methods and tools to effectively present anthropometric data for designers. The proposal is to explore the unmet needs of experienced designers and develop a prototype Inclusive Design Support Tool (IDST) integrating anthropometric data in a novel way. The Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES) constructor software will be used to implement the IDST. The effectiveness of the IDST will be evaluated with design students and experienced designers. The research will develop:1) new understanding of experienced designer needs for use of inclusive design data. 2) novel methods for dynamic data integration and manipulation.3) new forms of visual representation of anthropometric data to enhance use by designers. Industry is struggling to adapt to the new demands from a rapidly increasing proportion of older people. The IDST will provide timely support for designers to practice inclusive design, helping the UK maintain its leading role in inclusive design research and practice, and benefit from the profits generated by the wider adoption of inclusive design.