Universal Design Motivation for Universal Design

Contents 1.Understanding Design 2.Understanding Diversity 3.Social, Legal and Business rationale 4.Universal Design

Topic 1.1 Understanding Design

Design What is design?

Design When someone wins an Oscar for Best Costume Design, it is important to recognise the process of designing the costumes for a movie occurs over a long period of time, and is iterative.

Design What we mean by this is that the costume designer reads the script, comes up with initial designs, passes them onto the director, who reviews them, and suggests changes.

Design These changes are done, and the director will review again, and this over-and-back process can occur several times until both the costume designer and director are happy with the final outcome.

Design This is how you win an Oscar!

Design So what does this tell us? What it tells us is that design is not just the final outcome, but rather it is the process by which is final outcome is achieved. Sometime people talk about design as being both a verb and a noun. When we talk about design as a noun we as discussing the notion of a completed design, whereas when we talk about design as a verb (‘to design’) we are talking about the process of designing.

Design Give examples of some designs?

Example: World Map Let’s consider a map of the world as an example of design...

Example: World Map

Now we know that the world doesn’t really look like this, because a map is a two-dimensional representation of a three-dimensional reality...

Example: World Map

So the world is really a spherical shape, but on maps we project the three- dimensional shape onto a flat surface.

Example: World Map

This is called a Mercator Projection, named after the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator. This projection extremely common, and historically was very useful for ship- based navigation.

Example: World Map However, there are some significant issues associated with the Mercator projection:

Example: World Map –Greenland is that same size as Africa on the map, when in fact Africa's area is approximately 14 times greater than Greenland.

Example: World Map –Alaska is that same size as Brazil on the map, when Brazil's area is actually more than 5 times that of Alaska.

Example: World Map –Antarctica appears as the biggest continent, although it is actually the fifth in terms of area.

Example: World Map In 1973 Arno Peters devised a new map now called the Peters Projection. It more accurately represents the proportions of countries to each other...

Example: World Map

So let’s compare the two maps...

Example: World Map So let’s compare the two maps...

Example: World Map Arno Peters suggested that the Mercator projection was popular because it made Europe seem larger than it really is, and formerly colonised countries like Australia and Africa seem proportionally smaller, thereby attempting to create an implied belief in the pre-eminence of European culture (this sometimes called Eurocentrism), and in some way justifying colonisation.

Example: World Map So what does this tell us about design? It tells us that a design have elements to it beyond its function, it can also have political, social or cultural aspects to it.

Example: London Underground Map Let’s consider the London Underground Map as an example of design...

Example: London Underground Map It is considered a design classic. In the next slide we’ll see the middle section of the map (Zone 1)...

Example: London Underground Map

Example: World Map Remarkably this map doesn’t accurately represent the geographical locations of stations, but rather the relative positions of stations along the lines. Let’s look at a geographically accurate map of the Underground...

Example: London Underground Map [Source: Wikipedia File:LondonUndergroundZone1.svg]

Example: World Map So let’s compare the two maps...

Example: World Map So let’s compare the two maps...

Example: London Underground Map This style of map for the Underground was developed by Harry Beck in He realised that since the railway system was mostly underground, the physical location of the stations was unimportant, all the commuters needed to know was how to get from one station to another.

Example: London Underground Map So the stations are presented at equal distances from each other. Also the map only includes lines going in one of three directions: –Vertical lines –Horizontal lines –Lines at a 45 o angle

Example: London Underground Map So what does this tell us about design? It tells us that a good designer knows what to leave out as well as what to include, so to make the map simple and easy-to-understand, this map isn’t geographically accurate, but is topographically accurate.

Good Designs So let’s consider what makes a design good. For 3 minutes work by yourself to create a list of factors that you feel helps make a design good. Now, for 2 minutes, in groups of 2-4 people share your ideas, and see if you can come up with new ones together.

Good Designs Here are some potential answers... –Usability –Utility –Attractiveness And what about... –Cost –Simplicity

Bad Designs Now let’s consider what makes a design bad. For 3 minutes work by yourself to create a list of factors that you feel helps make a design bad. Now, for 2 minutes, in groups of 2-4 people share your ideas, and see if you can come up with new ones together.

Bad Designs Let’s look at some examples...

Bad Designs " Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Bad Designs "Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Bad Designs "Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Bad Designs "Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Bad Designs "Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Bad Designs "Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Bad Designs "Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com" Darnell, M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs. Baddesigns.Com

Cost of Bad Designs In 2009 Toyota had to recall about 3.8 million cars and trucks to reshape and/or replace the accelerator pedals. The design of the accelerator pedal in combination with loose floor mats may have resulted in the accelerator pedal getting stuck.

Cost of Bad Designs In 2011 they had to recall a further 2.2 million cars and trucks because of the same issue.

Exercise Get a single sheet of paper –Tear one out of your notebook/notepad Design a paper aeroplane using this piece of paper. –I’d like you to do this in silence without asking any questions.

Exercise: Reflections Did you design the paper aeroplane or did you build it? If you did this exercise right, there should be a blueprint or plan for a paper aeroplane drawn on the piece of paper. Too often people forget the vital step of designing before building, and as a consequence overlook vital steps that may missed.

Exercise In groups of 3-5 I want you to investigate the room we are in, and find three instances of good design, and three instances of bad design in the room, it can be the chairs, the tables, the board, the doors, the door handles, the windows, the window handles, the floor, etc. Note the example, and note down what characteristics make it good or bad. We'll spend 10 minutes on this exercise. Good Design ExamplesBad Design Examples

Topic 1.2 Understanding Diversity

Diversity Sometimes designer forget to create designs for people other than themselves. They tend to think of themselves as the norm and think that if they create designs for themselves then most people will be able to use it. What they forget is that most people is a very diverse grouping. So let’s spend a bit of time looking at diversity.

Diversity Dimensions of diversity: How do we differ from each other? Age, size, ability, gender, culture, language, literacy, education, technology. Challenges for people: How do the ways we differ from each other impact on how we share use of environments, products, services?

Diversity: The World

Diversity 7 Billion people: World Population 4 Billion people: Less than €3.00 per day income 2 Billion people: Own mobile phones 1.7 Billion people: Have poor literacy skills 1 Billion people: Live in slums 0.6 Billion people: Have disabilities

Ageing: The World Population Structures by Age and Sex, 2005 Millions Less Developed Regions More Developed Regions MaleFemaleMaleFemale Age Source: United Nations, World Population Prospects: The 2004 Revision, 2005.

Diversity: Ireland

The Irish population in 2011 was –4,581,269 people. This comprised of –2,268,698 men (49.5%) –2,312,571 women (50.5%)

Diversity: Ireland Ethnic groups in 2011: –Irish 87.4%, –other white 7.5%, –Asian 1.3%, –black 1.1%, –mixed 1.1%, –unspecified 1.6%

Diversity: Ireland Religions in 2011: –Roman Catholic 87.4%, –Church of Ireland 2.9%, –other Christian 1.9%, –other 2.1%, –unspecified 1.5%, –none 4.2%

Percentage of households with access to a computer classified by household composition

Diversity: Ireland Let’s consider the diversity in the sizes of people in Ireland…

Diversity: Ireland Body-Mass Index Obesity has been defined as a condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to an extent that health is adversely affected. Body mass index (BMI) is used to estimate the prevalence and associated risks of overweight and obesity within a population.

Diversity: Ireland Body-Mass Index The BMI is calculated as follows:

Diversity: Ireland BMI and Weight Category

Diversity: Ireland Self-reported height, weight and BMI, by gender, age and year

Diversity: Ireland Self-reported BMI distribution, by gender (2007)

Diversity: Ireland Let’s consider the diversity in the abilities of people in Ireland…

Diversity: Ireland Disabilities in Ireland Until about 10 years ago the information available at a national level concerning disabilities had serious limitations. The 2006 National Disability Survey (NDS), which builds on the information relating to disability obtained in the Census of Population of April 2006, is a landmark in terms of in-depth information about people with disabilities.

Diversity: Ireland Disabilities in Ireland The 2006 Census contained two questions on disability. Answers to these questions suggested that between 323,500 and 328,200 (or between 8.7 and 8.9 per cent of the population in Ireland) had a disability.

Diversity: Ireland Let’s consider the diversity in the ages of people in Ireland…

Ageing: Ireland In many parts of the world, the life expectancy of people is increasing significantly, including Ireland. The average life expectancy of an Irish person in 1926 was less than 60 years old, whereas by 2006 the expectancy had increased to approximated 77 years for males and 81 years for females.

Irish Life expectancy by gender and year

Ageing: Ireland Age structure: RangePercentage 0-14 Years Old21.1% Years Old67.3% 65 Years Old and Older11.6%

Ageing: Ireland Age structure: RangePercentageGenderCount 0-14 Years Old21.1%Male503,921 Female483, Years Old67.3%Male1,581,959 Female1,560, Years Old and Older11.6%Male246,212 Female295,192

Ageing: Ireland While improvements in the life expectancy in Ireland it is still worse than the EU average. Some of the reasons for this are presented on the next slide...

Factors associated with health, disability and quality of life of the population aged 55 and over

Ageing: Ireland As people get older their heath typically begins to deteriorate, and the they tend to develop disabilities. Older people tend to view their health as an asset, allowing them to function and remain independent in daily life, rather than simply the absence of illness or diagnoses.

Disability by age group for men and women

Ageing: Ireland Clearly as life expectancy increases, the number of people over 65 years old increases, the more likely it is that we need to design products and services that will be suitable for people with a wider range of abilities.

Ageing: Ireland “Population Ageing in Ireland: Projections ” National Council On Ageing And Older People

Ageing: Ireland Since there is a great deal of diversity in the population and we need to design in such as way as to account for, and accommodate, as wide a range of people as possible.

Exercise – Part 1 Lets calculate some percentages of diversity within the classgroup. Continued... Left-HandedRight-HandedAmbidextrous HANDEDNESS%% 5’08” and under5’09” to 6’00”Over 6’00” HEIGHT%% Under 1818 years oldOver 18 AGE%%

Exercise – Part 2 In your immediate family how many people fit into the following age ranges: Now let's combine all the values together and create a combined table. We'll spend 10 minutes on this exercise. Age RangeNumber of People 0-10 years old years old years old years old years old years old years old years old Over 80 years old

Topic 1.3 Social, Legal and Business rationale

Social Rationale

Gregg Vanderheiden is quoted in Gandy et al. (2003) as saying that Universal Design encourages more innovative and creative design and challenge the designer to create products that are a combination of "the best of today’s collective knowledge, technologies and materials”, this challenge can lead to radically new directions in design. –Gandy, M., Ross, D., Starner, T.E., Universal design: Lessons for wearable computing. Pervasive Computing, IEEE, 2(3), pp.19–23.

Social Rationale Ben Shneiderman says that “accommodating a broader spectrum of usage situations forces designers to consider a wider range of designs and often leads to innovations that benefit all users” –Shneiderman, B., 2001, Universal Usability: A research agenda for human-computer interaction research to empower every citizen. In Earnshaw, R., Guedj, R., Van Dam, A., and Vince, J. (Editors), Human-Centred Computing, Online Communities, and Virtual Environments, Springer- Verlag London,

Business Rationale

Elaine Ostroff says that Universal Design ensures that designers consider diversity to be the normal case, and in designing for diversity the designer is gaining the maximum possible assess to the potential market and the user base. –Ostroff, E., 2010, Universal Design: An Evolving Paradigm. In Universal Design Handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional.

Business Rationale Joseph Dennis Kelly states that homes designed with consideration of human diversity are marketable to a wide range of individuals, including older people, people with limited mobility, pregnant women, and many others –(Kelly 2004). Kelly, J.D., Universal Design - Transparent, Inclusive, Attractive and an Essential Consideration for Today’s Residential Designers. American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) ICON.

Business Rationale Vicki Hanson says that websites which are designed to allow user customisation using the latest technologies, to meet user needs through better use of fonts and colours, and to work with a multitude of environments such as desktop browsers, mobile and smart phones, screen readers and assistive technologies are better websites – they get more hits, they create a better user experience and they earn more money. –Hanson, V. et al., Accessing the Web. In Universal Access Handbook. CRC Press.

Legal Rationale

Universal Design is explicitly stated in the Irish Disability Act 2005, and section 52 legislates for the creation of a Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, who are charged with a range of duties, including; –the development of standards around universal design –provide courses of education and training in universal design for persons preparing to engage in work affecting the environment –promote public awareness of the difficulties encountered by persons with disabilities in relation to the environment.

Legal Rationale Also Ireland is a party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (United Nations 2008), which in Article 4 states that all signatories shall agree: –To undertake or promote research and development of universally designed goods, services, equipment and facilities, as defined in article 2 of the present Convention, which should require the minimum possible adaptation and the least cost to meet the specific needs of a person with disabilities, to promote their availability and use, and to promote universal design in the development of standards and guidelines

Exercise – Part 1 Changing a lightbulb on a ceiling light is a simple task for a tall person, but less so for everyone else, redesign ceiling lights to make them more easy to change the bulbs for everyone. We'll spend 5 minutes on this exercise.

Exercise – Part 2 Form a team and try a "concept combination" - take two concepts or objects and combine them in some novel way. As a team, the point is just to see what you can come up with - What can you come up with from the combination of a chair and a microwave? Perhaps an easy-chair that has a cooler and microwave and television built in. Or microwaveable "couch potatoes" ; a potato snack in the shape of a couch. We'll spend 10 minutes on this exercise.

Topic 1.4 Universal Design

Universal Design “Universal design is an approach to design that honours human diversity. It addresses the right for everyone – from childhood into their oldest years – to use all spaces, products and information, in an independent, inclusive and equal way. It is a process that invites designers to go beyond compliance with access codes, to create excellent, people centred design” Elaine Ostroff

Universal Design “Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size or disability” Irish Disability Act, 2005

Universal Design “Universal Design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design” Centre for Universal Design, North Carolina State University

Universal Design Universal Design means… –Design Once –Include All It is not (just) about disability It is about usability for all

Universal Design For the moment we are just going to read the names of the principles, we just want to hear the names of the principles for this class, and next time we’ll going into them in more detail.

The Principles of Universal Design 1. Equitable Use 2. Flexibility in Use 3. Simple and Intuitive 4. Perceptible Information 5. Tolerance for Error 6. Low Physical Effort 7. Size and Space for Approach and Use

Large Exercise Think about the origins of your mobile phone, what are the social, legal and business forces that led to its creation? For example, considering this from a social perspective - how would the mobile phone would be different if it had originally been created by a different culture?

Large Exercise For example, let's consider different culture:  e.g. The Chinese character numeral system consists of the Chinese characters used by the Chinese written language to write spoken numerals. Similarly to spelled-out numbers in English (e.g., "one thousand nine hundred forty-five"), it is not an independent system per se. Since it reflects spoken language, it does not use the positional system as is done in Arabic numerals, in the same way that spelling out numbers in English does not.  e.g. the Arabic alphabet has 28 basic letters.  e.g. Different cultures wear different types of clothes, that have different sized pockets, and therefore the size of mobile phone would have been different.  e.g. Singapore is believed to have the highest prevalence of myopia in the world; up to 80 percent of people there have myopia, so if they invented the mobile phone, it would have had larger screens.

Large Exercise Now what are the legal factors, and what are the business factors. We'll spend 20 minutes on this exercise.