Design challenges as part of conferences are great for innovative outcomes. The Design for All Europe Summer School in Portugal was no exception. Working as interdisciplinary teams, participants were challenged with addressing the city planning issues in Viana do Castelo.
In her paper, Jenna Mikus from Queensland takes us through the four inclusive design steps for the city planning challenge. Stage 1 is to Explore, Stage 2 is to Focus, and Stage 3 is to Develop by building scenarios. Stage 4 is Delivering the conceptual design concepts to stakeholders. In this context pilgrims and tourism workers were the priority user groups in Viana.
Mikus concludes that following an inclusive design process helps frame design research. User insights help drive innovative ideas and ensures design teams ask the right questions of participants. That leads to design solutions based on feedback – the basis of people-centred design.
There’s more to this paper which details processes and outcomes. The terminology is a bit contorted with “Design-for-All” and “Inclusive Design” but should be read as meaning the same thing – a quest for inclusive societies.
The title of the paper is, Employing the Inclusive Design Process to Design for All. It’s a free read courtesy QUT eprints.
Abstract: The 2019 EIDD Design for All Europe Summer School in Viana do Castelo, Portugal brought together 20 international doctoral students and design professionals to explore and apply Design for All knowledge. The program culminated in a capstone design challenge, during which participants were divided into teams and asked to apply Inclusive Design (ID) principles to address Viana’s urban planning issues. This paper presents the results of one of the four teams—outlining the design process, considerations, objectives, and outcomes. During this challenge, the team followed a prescribed ID process (based on the EIDD Design for All Europe-supported Inclusive Design framework [1] created by Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA) in collaboration with the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design (HHCD) at the Royal College of Art (RCA)), testing its applicability. By engaging directly with lead user group members and relevant stakeholders, the team identified creative, pragmatic design solutions to meet design goals and innovate across people, planet, and profit. Thus, by applying ID as a people-centered strategy, participants created a conceptual urban design likely to result in sustainable innovation and resonate across demographics.