The way we experience the world is largely through the design of the
places, products, communications, services and systems we encounter
every day. Design determines how difficult or easy it is to achieve
certain things - whether taking a bath, cooking a meal, crossing the
street or making a call, we all want a world that works for us all the
time. However, some people are excluded from the simplest and most basic
everyday experiences. Why? This is because the act of designing has
given insufficient consideration to their level of physical ability or
cognitive difference or cultural background or economic circumstance.
Over the past 30 years, however, there has been a shift in designing to
become more empathic and inclusive of different human needs. The Helen
Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art first pioneered the
concept of inclusive design in the early 1990s and it has gone on to
build an extensive portfolio of collaborative projects over a long
period, developing new methods, coaching designers at all levels in the
approach and bringing a more inclusive way of thinking about design to
international attention.
This book shows the parameters of inclusive design through the lens of
the centre's own projects in the field. It therefore maps a movement
and, at the same time, marks a milestone: the 30th anniversary of the
Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design in 2021. 30 everyday artefacts and
environments are explored. These vary in scale: some are simple,
hand-held objects, while others form part of large and complex
environments or systems. Some have reached the market, others we can
file under 'ideas for the future'. All reflect an approach which could
be described as designing with people as opposed to designing for
people.
