Universal Design lecture in Tallinn Summer School 2015

1. Universal Design Principles
Summer school
July 23, 2015
Tallinn University
Vladimir Tomberg, Ph.D.

2. About myself
• BSc and MSc in
Informatics
• PhD in Education Sciences
• Design team leader in
Learning Layers FP7
project
• Teaching Design for All
and Accessibility
Workshop in TLU HCI
master curricula

3. One Size Fits All
“… the human interface of
some software applications
gives the impression that
the designer’s model of the
user was a 25-year-old
male with a doctorate in
computer science who is
besotted with technology
and is more interested in
playing with a computer
than in completing useful
job of work!”
Alistair D. N. Edwards
Design for ALL 3

4. Typical Persona: no Data About
Personal Abilities
Design for ALL 4Image courtesy of http://barnabasnagy.net/

5. What is the difference?
Dependency and Autonomy During Life
Design for ALL 5Image courtesy of Design For All Foundation

6. Functions that Participate in
Interaction and Affect Design
Vision
Hearing
Thinking
Communication
Locomotion
Reach & stretch
Dexterity
Design for ALL 6User capabilities from inclusive design toolkit

7. Set of Personas in
http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com
Design for ALL 7

8. Persona with Important Personal
Factors Listed
• Rose is an 83 year old great
grandmother. Although fiercely
independent, she struggles with
everyday tasks like shopping,
cooking and housework. Carol
and David need to come round
most days to help.
• She still greatly enjoys an active
social life - including her regular
bridge and quiz night every week
and going out for meals with the
whole family.
• Unlike David, Rose has come to
accept her hearing aid as a
necessity. She has worn reading
glasses for many years and
always carries them with her.
Design for ALL 8

9. Good Design Addresses
Multitude of Abilities
9

10. How to address needs of everyone?
The answer is − Universal Design

11. The History of Design by Sooshin Choi
Design for ALL 11
Source: http://livewellcollaborative.org/

12. The Classic UD Example −
a Ramp or Curb Cut
Design for ALL 12Source: kohhranthianghlim.org

13. The Origins of Influences and Ideas
Design for ALL 13
John Clarkson, P., Coleman, R., History of Inclusive
Design in the UK, Applied Ergonomics (2013)

14. Universal Design Example
Design for ALL 14Image: tapsuk.com

15. Another Example
Design for ALL 15Image: fslocal.com

16. One More Example
Design for ALL 16Image: collectionscanada.gc.ca

17. The hierarchical structure of the
universal design principles
Transcending principles
•Equity
Process related principles
•Flexibility
•Error-management
•Efficiency
•Stability/predictability
Human factors principles
•Ergonomic
•Perception
•Cognition
Design for ALL 17
Higherlevelplacesdesignconstraintsonthe
lowerlevel
More general
More encompa-
ssing
More detailed
More narrowly
defined
More specific

18. Universal Design Strategies

19. Equitable Use
Design for ALL 19Source: livewellcollaborative.org

20. Stable and Predictable Principle
Design for ALL 20
Erlandson, R. F. (2010). Universal and accessible
design for products, services, and processes. CRC
Press.

21. Stable and Predictable Principle
Design for ALL 21
Erlandson, R. F. (2010). Universal and accessible
design for products, services, and processes. CRC
Press.

22. Stable and Predictable Principle
Design for ALL 22
Erlandson, R. F. (2010). Universal and accessible
design for products, services, and processes. CRC
Press.

23. Efficiency Design Strategies
Design for ALL 23
Reduce or eliminate non-value-added
activity (NVAA)

24. Error-Managed (Proofed) Principle
Design for ALL 24
My favorite example!

25. Error-Managed Design Strategies
Design for ALL 25
Prevent errors at the source
Image source: blog.crazyegg.com

26. Cognition Principle
Example: Color coding in Wal-Mart
Design for ALL 26
Image: zocalopublicsquare.org Source: google.com

27. Feedback
Use feedback to keep the user informed as to the status of the entity’s
operations and the entity’s response to user inputs
Design for ALL 27

28. Perception Principle
Design for ALL 28Source: somewhere in Internet

29. Something about Memory and
Universal Design
Design for ALL 29Source: Facebook

30. To make really Universal Design
think about diverse audience!

31. Empathic Modeling by Wiseman
(1996) “A concept analysis of
empathy”
• See the world as others see it;
• Be nonjudgmental;
• Understand another's feelings;
• Communicate the understanding

32. Case of Empathic Modeling in TLU
• The experimental DfA course (16 hours in
class, four home tasks);
• 16 HCI curricula master students;
• 8 women and 8 men;
• Software developers (3 persons), usability
engineers (3), designers (5), QA specialists (2),
marketing (3) or HR (1) specialists and
managers (4), no previous ICT education (2)

33. The Task: Go from point A to point B
by simulating some form of deterioration

34. Chosen Disabilities
• Person in a wheelchair;
• With a pushchair;
• With limited vision;
• With limited dexterity;
• With osteoporosis;
• With broken leg;
• Without arms;
• Foreigner

35. A student with tied arms simulating a person without
arms (left) and a student with a handicap in a backpack
simulating osteoporosis (right)

36. Identified Obstacles
In a
wheelchair
With a
pushchair
Limited
vision
Limited
dexterity
Broken
leg
Without
arms
Foreigner
Heavy doors, difficult
to open
X X X X
Dustbins under
Elevator Button
X X X
Buttons are too
close to each other
X X X
Security button in an
elevator is located
too high
X
Absence of lifts X X X X
Confusing navigation x X X X X X X
Absence of ramps X X X
Understanding the
instructions and
signs
X

37. Student One
"This exercise was a new experience for me,
because I have never put myself in the position
of an old or disabled person before and have not
thought of all the possible constraints and
obstacles that they may meet on their way"

38. Student Two
"For me this exercise was very useful and
engaging. I could never imagine how really hard it
can be for a person that is limited in motion to get
from point A to B in our university.
After walking around the university I really
understood how necessary it is to communicate to
people, while designing for them and to test the
creations with them in order to make the design
actually usable. Apparently, this principle is fair for
every design field, including HCI”

39. Student Three
"When analyzing HCI examples I can’t stop
thinking of user-centered design as the primary
criteria of assessment. Essentially it is about the
same things in the real life defined by Don
Norman: the affordances must be clear, there
must be clear indication of the state of the
system, the error messages must be
understandable and the feedback must be
relevant, etc"

40. Write to me: vtomberg@tlu.ee
Connect with me on LinkedIn:
http://ee.linkedin.com/in/vladimirtombe
rg/