Inclusive Design Guide

About this guide

The Inclusive Design Guide can be applied to digital design as well as to the design of services, the built environment and physical products. It can be applied to processes like workshops, meetings, conferences, and even our daily interactions with one another. It can be used by anyone. The Guide is ever-evolving as we learn more about how to design inclusion into all that we do. We rely on your feedback and contributions to continue developing these ideas.

Three Dimensions of Inclusive Design

At the Inclusive Design Research Centre and the Inclusive Design Institute we stress the Three Dimensions of Inclusive Design:

Recognize diversity and uniqueness

As individuals spread out from the hypothetical average, the needs of individuals that are outliers, or at the margins, become ever more diverse. Most individuals stray from the average in some facet of their needs or goals. This means that a mass solution does not work well.

Inclusive processes and tools

Inclusive design teams should be as diverse as possible and include individuals who have a lived experience of the users the designs are intended for. This also respects the edict “nothing about us without us” without relegating people with disabilities to the role of subjects of research or token participants in design exercises.

Broader beneficial impact

It is the responsibility of inclusive designers to be aware of the context and broader impact of any design and strive to effect a beneficial impact beyond the intended beneficiary of the design.