Inclusive design is a way of designing products, services and environments, to meet the needs of the widest possible audience. One of the best examples of an inclusive design is the dropped-curb between the pavement and road. It makes life easier for families with young children and prams, people using wheelchairs, roller suitcases, shopping trolleys, delivery carts. The design takes into account the needs of all these people as users.

The process of designing inclusively involves consulting as many people as possible as potential users of the end product (product meant here in the widest context) throughout the design process, from the outset of the idea, through to the prototyping stages, to the final design, packaging, the manufacturers' instructions and even the after-sales service. Doing so will ensure the end product maximises its market sales potential.

If this just sounds like common sense and the basis of all good design you would be right. Inclusive design is not a new genre of design, but a process which has become over-looked by many designers and design practices due to expense and time pressures.  Including the 'user' in the design process need not be expensive but does take time. However, designing inclusively repays the time spent by ensuring a product or service is both relevant and works well at all levels for potential customers, saving on costly post-launch design iterations.

Why should businesses take notice of designing inclusively?
For many years designers have focussed on youth-centric market, often designing for their own cohort or drawing from the experiences and abilities of their peers when considering new designs. These working practices are fast becoming outmoded and will be inappropriate in a marketplace rapidly changing towards an ageing population. Joe average who has until now been aged approximately 30 and male, is becoming Joanne average and aged 70 plus. This paradigm shift means that by 2020, 60% of the EU adult population will aged 50 plus, which will have an huge impact on design and how design will have to change to respond to the demands of this older marketplace. This is a global phenomenon, for example in Japan where the older population is already close to 40%.

Much is made of the negative impact of the ageing population on pensions and health services, but the older, or 'grey' market is also a huge opportunity for new products and services.

* Over 50s account for over 80% of UK wealth
* 80% of UK home ownership
* On average they have higher disposable income that the under 50s
* 65s to 75s already have similar spending power to under 50s
(Source:Social Trends 2002 Household and Expenditure Survey 2004)

In order to tap into this potentially lucrative marketplace, it will be more important than ever for designers to understand the needs and requirements of older consumers, which is why it makes sense to adopt an inclusive design approach to business. Successful businesses such as kitchen equipment manufacturer Oxo see inclusive design as a key element to their business strategy, as has been proven by their highly successful Good Grips range of implements.
Research carried out through the Helen Hamlyn Centre based at the Royal College of Art, looking at how older consumers redesign their own homes, has already identified kitchen and bathroom design as being of major importance for this consumer segment (Pearce 2003). The research identified the following issues as requiring particular attention when designing kitchens and bathrooms:

* Safety i.e. slipping, scalding, leaving gas appliances on
* Restricted bending and reach i.e. low or high storage cupboards,
* Limited hand dexterity i.e. difficulty with turn-top taps, grasping handles
* Visual clarity and intuitive use of product interfaces i.e. too small text, low contrast

These issues are more to do with general age-related wear and tear than disability and to a greater or lesser extent are experienced by us all at some stage in our lives i.e. limited reach and safety considerations for young children, bending and reach during pregnancy or temporary incapacity from say a sports injury. Designing inclusively considers these issues at the outset of the design process, ensuring the resulting product works well for the majority of people for the majority of the time.

Businesses often inaccurately consider inclusive design to be 'design for disability' but the opposite is true. However, during the inclusive design process, testing is carried out with older or less-able people and those who use wheelchairs, but the aim is very much to expand the appeal and functionality of products to suit the widest possible range of consumers, not design to suit a particular target audience.

It could be argued that inclusive design is just good design and shouldn't have a title at all, but over recent decades the balance of form and function in the design of products generally has shifted towards styling and in many cases over-styling. It has become more and more difficult for consumers to identify good design, when faced with a barrage of products styled to catch their attention. Designing inclusively aims to redress the balance between 'form and function' from the design of the product itself, through to manufacturers' instructions, the language of the marketing literature and after sales service. Through the inclusive design process, consumers of all ages should be able to understand clearly the features and benefits of the product or service and will be reassured that their needs will be met which is ultimately good for business.

As a business philosophy inclusive design needs to be understood and championed by companies from board level. Acknowledging that many businesses and company executives are in denial about the shift towards an ageing consumer, even within their own companies, Professor Roger Coleman Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre and the first professor of Inclusive Design, provides appropriate guidance to anyone trying to get their board to embrace designing inclusively.

There are also a growing number of Inclusive Design information resources which outline the business case; design methodologies; user interaction; case studies and products. See the following websites for more information:

Helen Hamlyn Centre: www.hhrc.ac.uk
Royal Society of Arts & Manufacturing: www.rsa.org.uk
Design Council: www.design-council.org.uk
Easy Living Home: www.easylivinghome.co.uk

Alison Wright will host a seminar entitled 'Inclusive Design' on Tuesday, 15 May at 3pm at this year's Bathroom & Kitchen Expo.  To register free to attend, visit www.bkexpo.co.uk.