Awaken
For many products, a lot of implementations regarding accessibilities are after-thoughts. Designers and engineers are unaware of accessibility-first design during the product-building process since they ignore some underrepresented users. Awaken includes fun and interactive games for designers and engineers to help them realize the importance of inclusive design, practice inclusive design thinking and prepare them with an inclusive mindset during their actual work process.
What is Inclusive Design?
Inclusive Design is a methodology, born out of digital environments, that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity. Most importantly, this means including and learning from people with a range of perspectives.
Recognize exclusion
Designing for inclusivity not only opens up our products and services to more people, it also reflects how people really are.
All humans grow and adapt to the world around them and we want our designs to reflect that.
Solve for one,
Extend to many
Everyone has abilities, and limits to those abilities. Designing for people with permanent disabilities actually results in designs that benefit people universally. Constraints are a beautiful thing.
Learn from diversity
Human beings are the real experts in adapting to diversity. Inclusive design puts people in the center from the very start of the process, and those fresh, diverse perspectives are the key to true insight.
*Information from Microsoft Inclusive Design website
Problem
We found that many design practices didn’t consider inclusivity during the design process. Lack of awareness, difficulty in recruiting related participants, lack of applicable methods, and difficulty in engaging designers with disabilities are some main obstacles for early-designers to practice inclusive design thinking.
