Universal Design

1
Universal Design

• Motivation for
• Universal Design

2
Contents

• Understanding Design
• Understanding Diversity
• Social, Legal and Business rationale
• Universal Design

3
Topic 1.1Understanding Design
4
Design

• What is design?

5
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.

6
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.

7
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.

8
Design

• This is how you win an Oscar!

9
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.

10
Design

• Give examples of some designs?

11
Example World Map

• Lets consider a map of the world as an example
  of design...

12
Example World Map
13
Example World Map

• Now we know that the world doesnt really look
  like this, because a map is a two-dimensional
  representation of a three-dimensional reality...

14
Example World Map
15
Example World Map

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

16
Example World Map
17
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.

18
Example World Map

• However, there are some significant issues
  associated with the Mercator projection

19
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.

20
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.

21
Example World Map

• Antarctica appears as the biggest continent,
  although it is actually the fifth in terms of
  area.

22
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...

23
Example World Map
24
Example World Map

• So lets compare the two maps...

25
Example World Map

• So lets compare the two maps...

26
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.

27
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.

28
Example London Underground Map

• Lets consider the London Underground Map as an
  example of design...

29
Example London Underground Map

• It is considered a design classic.
• In the next slide well see the middle section of
  the map (Zone 1)...

30
Example London Underground Map
31
Example World Map

• Remarkably this map doesnt accurately represent
  the geographical locations of stations, but
  rather the relative positions of stations along
  the lines.
• Lets look at a geographically accurate map of
  the Underground...

32
Example London Underground Map
Source Wikipedia FileLondonUndergroundZone1.sv
g
33
Example World Map

• So lets compare the two maps...

34
Example World Map

• So lets compare the two maps...

35
Example London Underground Map

• This style of map for the Underground was
  developed by Harry Beck in 1931.
• 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.

36
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 45o angle

37
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
  isnt geographically accurate, but is
  topographically accurate.

38
Good Designs

• So lets 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.

39
Good Designs

• Here are some potential answers...
• Usability
• Utility
• Attractiveness
• And what about...
• Cost
• Simplicity

40
Bad Designs

• Now lets 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.

41
Bad Designs

• Lets look at some examples...

42
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
43
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
44
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
45
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
46
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
47
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
48
Bad Designs
"Photograph courtesy of Baddesigns.Com"Darnell,
M. J. (2006). Bad Human Factors Designs.
Baddesigns.Com
49
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.
50
Cost of Bad Designs
In 2011 they had to recall a further 2.2 million
cars and trucks because of the same issue.
51
Exercise

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

52
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.

53
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 Examples Bad Design Examples
1. 1.
2. 2.
3. 3.
54
Topic 1.2Understanding Diversity
55
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 lets spend a bit of time looking at diversity.

56
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?

57
Diversity The World
58
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

59
Ageing The World
Population Structures by Age and Sex, 2005
Millions
Less Developed Regions
More Developed Regions
Age
80 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49
40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4
Male
Female
Male
Female
Source United Nations, World Population
Prospects The 2004 Revision, 2005.
60
Diversity Ireland
61
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)

62
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

63
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

64
Percentage of households with access to a
computer classified by household composition
2007-2011
65
Diversity Ireland

• Lets consider the diversity in the sizes of
  people in Ireland

66
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.

67
Diversity Ireland

• Body-Mass Index
• The BMI is calculated as follows

68
Diversity Ireland

• BMI and Weight Category

69
Diversity Ireland

• Self-reported height, weight and BMI, by gender,
  age and year

70
Diversity Ireland

• Self-reported BMI distribution, by gender (2007)

71
Diversity Ireland

• Lets consider the diversity in the abilities of
  people in Ireland

72
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.

73
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.

74
Diversity Ireland

• Lets consider the diversity in the ages of
  people in Ireland

75
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.

76
Irish Life expectancy by gender and year
77
Ageing Ireland

• Age structure

Range Percentage
0-14 Years Old 21.1

15-64 Years Old 67.3

65 Years Old and Older 11.6

78
Ageing Ireland

• Age structure

Range Percentage Gender Count
0-14 Years Old 21.1 Male 503,921
Female 483,454
15-64 Years Old 67.3 Male 1,581,959
Female 1,560,238
65 Years Old and Older 11.6 Male 246,212
Female 295,192
79
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...

80
Factors associated with health, disability and
quality of life of the population aged 55 and over
81
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.

82
Disability by age group for men and women
83
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.

84
Ageing Ireland
Population Ageing in Ireland Projections
2002-2020 National Council On Ageing And Older
People
85
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.

86
Exercise Part 1

• Lets calculate some percentages of diversity
  within the classgroup.
• Continued...

Left-Handed Right-Handed Ambidextrous
HANDEDNESS
508 and under 509 to 600 Over 600
HEIGHT
Under 18 18 years old Over 18
AGE
87
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 Range Number of People
0-10 years old
10-20 years old
20-30 years old
30-40 years old
40-50 years old
50-60 years old
60-70 years old
70-80 years old
Over 80 years old
88
Topic 1.3Social, Legal and Business rationale
89
Social Rationale
90
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 todays collective
  knowledge, technologies and materials, this
  challenge can lead to radically new directions in
  design.
• Gandy, M., Ross, D., Starner, T.E., 2003.
  Universal design Lessons for wearable computing.
  Pervasive Computing, IEEE, 2(3), pp.1923.

91
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, 179-189.

92
Business Rationale
93
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.

94
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., 2004. Universal Design
  - Transparent, Inclusive, Attractive and an
  Essential Consideration for Todays Residential
  Designers. American Society of Interior Designers
  (ASID) ICON.

95
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., 2009. Accessing the Web. In
  Universal Access Handbook. CRC Press.

96
Legal Rationale
97
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.

98
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

99
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.

100
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.

101
Topic 1.4Universal Design
102
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

103
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

104
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

105
Universal Design

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

106
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 well going into them in more detail.

107
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

108
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?

109
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.
110
Large Exercise

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