Stella Boess
With the coming introduction of the European Disability Act, what are the paths to address it and contribute to an equal society? This presentation presents learnings based on projects and insights from the past five years of the Inclusive Design lab at IDE TU Delft. The Inclusive Design Lab is a collaboration between IDE TU Delft and the NGO Visio and runs student projects with societal and industry stakeholders. Inclusive Design is about the way we think about the things we see around us rather than a method. A common approach in design is disability simulation, but it may not always increase inclusivity.
Can you design using only words?
A preferable path is that people work together, each from their own experience. However, designers and experience experts have misgivings, sometimes based on their experiences. For example: a sighted designer may assume it is not possible to co-create with near or unsighted people. In another example, a disabled person may be frustrated because a co-creation project did not lead to any improvements. The presentation highlights some of these misgivings as well as better paths: mutual learning and co-creation tools that put collaborators on an equal footing. These have all emerged from the work of the Inclusive Design Lab.
The Inclusive Design lab provides students with a new perspective on designing that equips them to engage with inclusivity in their professional lives. The work in the lab is also a methodological playground for Visio and societal and business stakeholders, to expand their toolbox and be better equipped to address equality in society.
