Inclusive design Often the decision to target a particular market is fundamentally an economic one, and normally the choice will select the people who will return the biggest profi t to the product. There are exceptions though. For example, there are ethical reasons for making products that people with disabilities can engage with more easily, but there are economic reasons too. Improvements in medicine and welfare mean that there is a growing proportion of elderly or disabled people in society. Inclusive, or universal, design incorporates many areas of good design practice including aesthetics and ergonomics. Design features generated might, for example, include comfortable handles, easy visual operational signs, strongly differentiated colours, and control through feel as well as sight. Many of these features will also appeal to the full spectrum of consumers and as such, inclusive design is not just designing for the disabled but also a philosophy aimed at addressing the needs of the widest possible audience; with principles that include equitability, simplicity, fl exibility, intuitive and forgiving use, low effort and appropriate sizes and weights.
o Airbus A380
u People’s needs u Case study: Matthew White
The A380 is the world’s largest passenger airliner. However, it is a high-risk product that requires an Eu8 billion investment with no guarantee of any return. Why therefore take the chance of designing an interior that no one will like, or base decisions on small focus groups? Web 2.0 technology allows Airbus to canvas opinion on their design from anybody with access to the Internet.
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Case study: Wayne Hemingway
Targeting With six billion people in the world, it’s unlikely that one design is going to meet the needs of everyone. Crucial decisions therefore have to be made as to who should and who should not be targeted. This does not mean forgetting the wider market and hoping that you don’t make sales there, but it does mean undertaking the impossible task of trying to please everybody, because you won’t be able to and will go mad in the process of trying to. Constructing a consumer profi le for a typical member (or members) of your chosen market is helpful. This should include not just demographic data such as age and gender, but typical behavioural characteristics. It is the depth of knowledge behind these simple caricature presentations that makes this a very powerful technique. In targeting specifi c markets, it is not uncommon to use standard defi nitions that help to segment the market into manageable and understandable sizes. These might include segments by lifestyle or newspaper readership, for example. The product idea you might aim at buyers of a low-cost, tabloid newspaper might be very different to a product aimed at more expensive broadsheet readers. A good product, however, is a good product – and it may be necessary to throw away these standard defi nitions and fi nd new ways of looking at the market.