For the frog design SF Design Week 2020 I co-hosted a virtual panel called Designing for Inclusive Experiences with fellow frog Tammy Baird and we were joined by Sina Bahram, President and Founder of Prime Access Consulting and Corey Timpson, Principal of Corey Timpson Design Inc.
Our event explored the ways that design can address inclusion, accessibility, and engage more diverse audiences. A team at frog SF had the honor of being introduced to and collaborating with Sin, President and Founder of Prime Access Consulting and a President Barack Obama White House Champion of Change, and Corey, Principal at Corey Timpson Design Inc and an expert in inclusive design and museological practice. Both are vocal leaders in the fight for more inclusive design. During the frog collaboration Sina and Corey reinforced the social model of disability, that it is not the billion individuals with some form of disability that need to adapt to technology, instead it is inaccessible systems and environments that are disabling to people with specific needs. During the session we spoke to how frog has approached inclusive design in the past, presented new frontiers and questions in inclusive design and heard from Sina and Corey about their inclusive design methodology and approach. The session was followed by a live Q&A.
The session was the only live closed captioned event and and the highest attendance of the entire conference.
SFDW 2020 Designing for Inclusive Experiences had the highest attendance of the conference.
From the designmind article:
Here are 5 key points to making sure processes around product design and development are inclusive from the outset:
- Hire diverse teams and encourage a wide range of perspectives
- Recruit a diverse set of research participants
- Design for experiences that are not othering and are inclusive from the outset
- Leverage technology in a way that makes experiences more inclusive
- Consider product representation, marketing and outreach
The real takeaway around inclusive design is that it not only enables greater access to products, services and experiences, but expands the horizon of innovation, creativity and design for all, regardless of ability.
