Humanizing Accessibility
“As he began to see it, disability wasn’t a limitation of his, but rather a mismatch between his own abilities and the world around him. Disability was a design problem.” — Cliff Kuang
For one of the classes I am taking this semester, we took a fun field trip to the Access+Ability exhibit organized by the Cooper Hewitt at the Carnegie Museum of Art and it featured a variety of innovative research and functional designs to enhance aspects of our daily life.
Some of the products that I liked included the FlyEase sneakers, the AccessNow application, and the Walking Stick System.
The FlyEase sneakers were inspired by a teenager with cerebral palsy, who wanted to be able to put on sneakers by himself. Nike came up with a solution by adding in a wraparound zipper for easy entry and exit for the foot. AccessNow is an application that pin-points accessible places around the world. Lastly, the Walking Stick System was designed by Michael Graves to address problems with self-standing, hands-free carrying, storage, easy retrieval, and non-slip leaning. These products were particularly meaningful to me because I thought they were good examples of products that showed how just making small changes to already existing ideas can make a big impact on the users. For example, adding an extra zipper to a sneaker is a small and inexpensive change to implement but can make putting on sneakers very easy for any person.
In class, we briefly discussed the impact of cost to design and this topic was something that resonated with me because, given the reality of the financial situations of many people, the cost of a product is an important factor to consider when designing. However at the same time, when designers are trying to come up with innovative solutions, having cost in mind is something that can greatly restrict the kind of solutions that a designer can come up with. This then brings up an important question: How do we as designers balance these contrasting factors when designing? What I have concluded is that there will always be an ambiguous line that separates cost and creativity, however, that should never limit our scope while in the ideating stage of design.
The AccessNow app was also a compelling product to look at because it brought the problem of many places not being accessible to my attention. It made me think about how design can be such a powerful tool in making a positive social impact and how just simply having owners contribute to the database of their shops’ accessibility status can make a big difference in peoples’ lives.
The exhibit itself also created an inviting experience. All the descriptions that went with the products were available in braille. The set up of the displays had an open feeling that allowed people to navigate around freely. Many of the objects said, “touch me” appealing to different human senses and enabling people to feel how some of the products work.
Many times we are asked to conform to the systems and technology around us, but it is time to look at it the other way around. Why do we oftentimes only design for the “average” person? It is important to observe different people in different environments and not just design solutions for that ideal persona. As designers, we have a social responsibility to create inclusive experiences. Designing with accessibility in mind can make an impact on everyone and allow people to enjoy life — not just the “average” person.
