Toolkit home
What is inclusive design?
Why do inclusive design?
How to design inclusively
This PDF was generated from the Case studies section of
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
Inclusive design tools
This toolkit was developed by the University of Cambridge, Engineering
User capabilities
Design Centre, sponsored by BT.
Case studies
Links and resources
If you would like to purchase printed versions of this toolkit, please
contact edc-toolkit@eng.cam.ac.uk for details.
Print friendly PDF
Page 1
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
Case studies
Case studies can demonstrate how inclusive design can foster innovation and improve design.
In particular, the following case studies were chosen to show how inclusive design can be put
into practice effectively in a commercial context, combining inclusivity with style, and
producing products that are both comfortable and effective.
• Ferrari Enzo: delivering accessibility whilst remaining premium
• OXO Good Grips: producing mainstream tools that are comfortable and effective
• Easy Living Home: integrating style and functionality
• BT Freestyle: incorporating typical 'assistive' features into a mainstream product
• Ford Focus: stretching the target market to widen the product's appeal
• Factory Wares saucepan: designing a mainstream product whilst considering the needs of
particular user groups
The "Case studies" section was authored by Sam
Waller, Ian Hosking, John Clarkson and Roger
Coleman.
Further information
• The Designing with People website has an Activities section which contains many other inclusive design case studies,
images, videos, and quotes associated with activities of daily living.
• The EDeAN Design for All website has an Examples section with case studies of business practice, products and
users.
• The Norwegian Design Council's Inclusive Design website has a Videos section containing presentations from Wolff
Olins, Smart Design, BT and GE Healthcare.
• A exhibition leaflet: 'Design that Makes a Difference: People-Centred Projects from Norway and the UK' (pdf format)
describes 20 projects drawn from Norway and the UK that showcase socially inclusive design (produced by the Helen
Hamlyn Centre for Design).
Page 2
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
Ferrari Enzo
With only 400 produced and a price of $670,000, the Ferrari Enzo is probably the last place
you would expect to find inclusive design. Surprisingly though, a 2004 press article from the
Ferrari Owners' Club indicates inclusive thinking within Ferrari’s design strategy for access and
egress. The text below is paraphrased from the press article.
Climb into the latest Ferrari sports car and you are unlikely to notice the modifications
designed with overweight, arthritic pensioners in mind. The Italian carmaker is just one of
many companies grappling with a demographic shift that challenges the fundamental rules of
marketing and design. The average buyer of a Ferrari road car is nearing 50 and set to get
older. Car designers are responding by sparing the knees with changes to the door height. The
trick is that no one must be able to tell.
‘The profile of our customers means we have to pay attention to practicality and functionality
without compromising the sportiness,’ said Giuseppe Bonollo, strategic marketing director.
‘There are some engineering choices you can make which give you better accessibility and
internal roominess. The way the doors open on the Ferrari Enzo, for example, allows part of
The doors on the Ferrari Enzo allow part of the roof
and part of the door undermoulding to come away as
well, making it easier to enter the car.
the roof and part of the door undermoulding to come away as well, making it easier to enter
the car.’
The press article credited the improved comfort of a modern Ferrari with doubling the average
distance driven by its owner from 2,500 miles a year in 1990 to 5,000 miles in 2004.
Page 3
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
OXO Good Grips
OXO began with a few simple questions - Why do ordinary kitchen tools hurt your hands? Why
can’t there be wonderfully comfortable tools that are easy to use?
In 1990, the first group of 15 OXO Good Grips kitchen tools was introduced to the US market.
These ergonomically- designed, transgenerational tools set a new standard for the industry
and raised the bar of consumer expectation for comfort and performance.
The annual growth in sales was over 35% per year from 1991 to 2002, and the line now
contains more than 500 innovative products covering many areas of the home. The OXO Good
Grips line has been recognized by several national and international organizations for superior
design. The company’s strategy is based on the primary goals of making products that are
The handles on these products have innovative designs
that make them comfortable to use, and the blades are
functionally very effective.
usable and desirable.
See www.oxo.com for more information.
This salad spinner requires minimal capability to use,
while this jug has a diagonal measuring scale that can
be read from above.
Page 4
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
Easy Living Home
Easy Living Home specialises in creating inclusively designed homes that address clients'
physical and aspirational requirements in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Their work
encompasses whole houses, individual bathrooms and individual features, such as taps.
Alison Wright, founder of Easy Living Home, has been working in partnership with occupational
therapist Kate Sheehan and Graham Group (UK’s second largest plumbing supplier). Together,
they have developed Graham Living Works, a new brand of ‘inclusively’ designed bathrooms,
which was launched with the first showroom in Eastbourne in July 2007.
Several of Alison's inclusive designs appear in the government document ‘Lifetime Homes &
Lifetime Neighborhoods’ as examples of best practise. Alison was also delighted to receive two
Kitchen & Bathroom Industry design awards for her ‘inclusive’ kitchen and bathroom designs in
the prestigious Kbb Review Industry Awards 2007.
Please see www.easylivinghome.co.uk for more detail.
This stylish bath storage facility helps to prevent
slipping by keeping towels close at hand, while also
providing a seat to help the transfer into and out of the
bath.
Page 5
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
BT Freestyle
The BT Freestyle 7xx series was BT’s first opportunity to test its new embedded inclusive
design process. BT commissioned Alloy to carry out initial research and develop concepts
which, along with consumer consultation came up with the criteria for the phone in 7 ‘easy’
categories:
• Easy to dial - Large comfortable keys.
• Easy to read - High contrast and large characters.
• Easy to hear - Comfortable ear bowl, easy volume adjustment and inductive coupler for
digital hearing aids.
• Easy to hear phone ringing - Lower frequency ringer and increased size of the call
indicator light.
• Easy to understand - No icons, no abbreviations, keys with single functionality, intelligent
function hierarchy.
• Easy to answer and end calls - Large, separate keys to start and end calls.
• Easy to see who is calling - 2 line dot matrix display, large characters.
Since its launch in July 2008 sales have increased by 20%. The inclusive design has also
minimised product returns thereby improving profitability, despite higher manufacturing costs.
Packed with features without compromising on style, the result is BT’s new flagship accessible
phone which has proven very popular amongst consumers. More detail can be found in Alloy's
Packed with features without compromising on style,
BT'’s flagship accessible phone has proven very
popular.
article on their work with BT, and on BT's Including you website.
Page 6
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
Ford Focus
The 1999 Ford Focus was developed to include as many customers as possible, on a worldwide
basis. Considering one specific detail, the heater controls for this car are shown opposite. The
centre knob for the distribution control is larger than the knobs either side of it, which helps
the driver distinguish between the controls without taking the eyes off the road. Furthermore,
the larger diameter provides sufficient space for larger heater control graphics and reduces the
effort of turning the knob.
The centre knob for this distribution control is larger
than the knobs either side of it, which helps the driver
distinguish between the controls without taking the
eyes off the road.
Page 7
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015
Factory Wares saucepan
Factorydesign won the 2003 DBA Inclusive Design Challenge with their concept 'Factory
Wares: an inclusive saucepan', which is shown opposite. The brief for this challenge was to:
"Design a mainstream product, service, environment, print, on-line or other
communication which deliberately includes the needs and aspirations of currently
excluded groups of people."
The ability to live independently is the key to quality of life for many disabled people. The
users with severe arthritis who advised Factory Design all loved cooking but their moment of
truth came once the dish was ready and had to be lifted from the heat. It was then that the
weight and design of the saucepan increased the pain of their condition and led to accidents.
Factory design's concept for an inclusive saucepan has
two handles that are contoured to fit the shape of the
hand, thereby drastically reducing the strain on the
wrists.
According to the leading arthritis charity, Arthritis Care, around ten million people of all ages in
the UK are affected by arthritis and every one of them needs to eat. Visually-impaired cooks
have a different set of issues, which relate more to safety and hygiene. Factory Design’s
challenge was to create a saucepan that would transform the pain of their cooking experience
to one where pleasure is uppermost and where safety and hygiene are assured.
A detailed report on this case study is available to download from the RCA's Designing with
People website.
Page 8
www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
PDF created: 19/03/2015