According to the WHO, 1 billion people experience some form of disability. Disability can range from physical to sensory, intellectual and mental health. We continue to unintentionally exclude 15 % of the people on this planet on account of poor and thoughtless design. The consequences are not only moral, but commercial.
Consider this – conventional product design was preventing 360 million people from every day oral care. Imagine not being able to brush your teeth because of dexterity challenges. A routine activity most of us take for granted. Landor decided to solve this challenge through innovation in design, technology and manufacturing and make oral care accessible to all. The result was {access}ories, bespoke adaptive add-ons that can be applied to any toothbrush to create personalised handles for people with dexterity challenges.
Access{ories} was recognised by TIMES magazine as one of the best inventions in 2023.
Access{ories} proved that personalised, low-cost, innovative solutions can create impact at scale. You can read more about it here.
McKinsey & Company emphasizes that inclusive design in the context of diversity, equity and inclusion significantly impacts business performance.
Beyond moral responsibility, inclusive design offers clear commercial benefits. Brands that prioritise inclusive design can build customer loyalty, reduce product errors and returns and unlock underserved markets.
Yet, companies struggle with how to start. Companies want to be inclusive, but they don’t have the time or budgets to redesign everything from scratch. But inclusive design doesn’t need to start with massive change.
Start with small wins.
Visual accessibility Usage of high contrast colors for legibility and prototyping with color blind and visually impaired patients should be a priority in health care packaging design. Yet many prescription medicines still use faint, small sized text making critical information illegible. Even OTC wellness brands in their pursuit of lifestyle aesthetics often compromise patient usability.
Language and literacy
Arogya designed a pictogram-based medicine packaging for the rural, low literacy population in India. This small but meaningful design shift significantly improved adherence and chronic disease care.
In India where mobile penetration is high, audio labels can be a powerful mainstream solution. A low-tech intervention that can play spoken instructions in regional languages to explain dosage, timing and instructions to reinforce chronic disease care adherence. Imagine the clarity, confidence and control brands can create for patients by turning every medicine pack into a trusted health companion.
Sensorial design
RNIB (Royal National Institute of Blind) commissioned a prototype pregnancy test kit that provides tactile results instead of visual lines allowing visually impaired women learn their test results privately for the first time.
How might we rethink textures, lighting and sound for neurodivergent individuals?
The Cleveland Clinic Autism Center uses sensory sensitive design elements like calming colors and private waiting zones to reduce patient anxiety.
Service design
Staff can be sensitised to recognise sensory distress and adjust their tone, pace and interaction style when interacting with patients on the spectrum. Hospitals can implement longer or off-peak appointment slots for autistic patients to reduce waiting time and sensory strain.
Summary
Inclusive design is not about overhauling everything. It is about starting somewhere.
The end goal of inclusive design is not just access, but dignity and empowerment for every individual. As Gabi Michel at Microsoft had beautifully put it, “We don’t want people to adapt to the device, we want the device to adapt to the person.”
That’s the future we must design for.
Ronita Mukerjee is Executive Client Director at Landor India.
