Universal Design Introductory Seminars

Richard Duncan, Coordinator of Training,
Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University,
Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

Abstract

This seminar introduces each incoming College of Design undergraduate and some graduate students to universal design concepts and, the Center for Universal Design and its resources. The seminars emphasize the broad and changing needs of users and build on the students' own experiences. Exercises and discussion reveal the breadth of beneficiaries emphasizing life span issues, issues of those currently regarded as able-bodied, and those who are circumstantially disabled, including range of size, issues of pregnancy, weight, strength, vision, and hearing. Students, faculty, staff, friends and family are all included as examples of the variation of human form and ability. The seminar includes but does not focus exclusively on disability.

A series or exercises challenge the students to evaluate the design of products, and the supportiveness of their environment. As a result of this seminar students will understand that universal design means design for them, for people that they know, and others over a lifespan and how universal design fits into design as a process and an outcome. They are introduced to the universal design principles and to the resource of the Center for Universal Design.

Audience

Three-hour seminars for groups of about 20 students, a total of 120-140 entering College of Design students along with their instructors as part of the College's Design Fundamentals class, DF101. Conducted each fall.

Exercises

During each seminar, three to four exercises are used from the selection below, each taking between 15 minutes and one hour. Each exercise leads to discussions of students' personal experiences that reinforce the broad beneficiary group for universal design. Students are reminded that some currently have injuries or conditions resulting from injuries, many use eyeglasses, and most have relatives who are aging. In each case the student is confronted with the fact that universal design benefits them and those that they know.

Hearing Exercise

The group is exposed to a sequence of taped audio instructions with incremental adjustments to audio quality and volume to simulate combinations of various hearing impairments and ambient sounds, which cause problems in receiving and understanding audio information. This exercise dramatically reveals the circumstances that we all experience (noise in the kitchen with appliances running, radio blaring, airport, street noise, restaurant background noise) that makes hearing and understanding difficult. The discussion reveals their own experiences and begins the exploration of universal features that they may take advantage of: open captioning in noisy terminals, video displays at drive through fast food.

Products Comparison

Teams of four to five students are given several similar household products to handle, compare, contrast, and discuss. These include vegetable peelers, scissors, can openers, salt and pepper shakers, etc. Students are given an analysis protocol that asks them to assess the usability of each product. Each product is "real-world" used for the purpose that it was designed with cans, carrots, paper, etc. provided.

The students are then asked to comment on product performance. Students find that some may be easier to use, others clearer in graphics and controls, while intuitive use may be present in a different product. In a similar manner, students find that a product with a good feature may be harder to use or less clear in other ways. Through this process, students make the case for ease-of use themselves. This exercise also reveals how universal design principles need to be considered among a number of other criteria. For example, it is possible for a product with easy grasping characteristics to perform badly nonetheless - a peeler that doesn't peel may not be a good product to buy. Because different products offer unique advantages, instant redesign charettes result in students combining the best features of several products.

The discussion includes additional product design/manufacturing parameters such as cost, materials, appearance, and function as a means of placing universal design in the context of other relevant issues. By doing so the students can better see the added value of universal design.

Reading Exercise

Students are handed sheets of paper with text passages written in various fonts, point sizes, capitalization, and spacing. They are asked to read the text passages and observe how variations effect readability and to rank order the samples according to legibility. Students are then asked to try the assessment after removing reading glasses, while squinting or while wearing special glasses that simulate common visual impairments.

The predictable results reveal that, in most cases, the initial rank ordering is maintained in subsequent trials. That is, text that is easy to read with typical visual ability is the easiest to read with many visual challenges. Text that is ranked as difficult to read becomes even more so under the burden of a visual impairment.

Cognitive Exercise

Everyone receives a hand out with two numerical keypads on it. One keypad has the standard arrangement; the other has the numbers randomly assigned. Students are asked to perform a timed task by dialing their home phone number as many time as they can in thirty seconds on each keypad. They are asked to count the number of times they are able to dial in each case. The discussion reveals the difference in the number of successful attempts.

This exercise highlights challenges of consistency in our increasingly keypad and keyboard oriented world. Most students have experienced the appliance, or car with counterintuitive or non-standard control locations. Stress, confusion, and frustration are often the result. The discussion also covers novelty and how people react to new and unfamiliar situations.

Architectural Exercise

A small group of students are asked to carry bulky boxes in and out of the Center's offices through doors and doorways that present different levels of challenge. They experience lever door handles, automatic door openers, and standard doors. Students report how they negotiated each door.

Students understand how common universal features that were once considered as useful only to a purportedly small group of beneficiaries are now seen as useful to and used by many. Lever door handles are a good example of this. Automatic door openers, while not as common as lever door handles, are also enjoyed by many.

They also understand that everyday tasks often make us "circumstantially disabled"; that is, a task may force us to operate differently from what is typical for us and change our manner of interface with our environment. Circumstances can produce a traditional manner of physical or cognitive impairment leading to the person environment mismatch. Conditions such as loud noises in public places make understanding so difficult the effect is similar to chronic hearing problems experienced by many.

Discussion and Questions

1) Dangers of Designing for the Average Person

Lacking any other perspective, it is easy to assume that others see, hear, reach, bend, move, and think like us. OR, to design to quantitative averages available in a number of reference texts. In truth, very few of us are average.

Designers can refer to standard references to get information like this:

Average man age 20-65 5'-9" 172 lb

Average Woman age 20-65 5'-4" 137 lb

By polling the class itself, students understand that very few of them qualify as statistically average; most are larger or smaller, heavier or lighter. This emphasizes the point that most of us are neither average nor perfect and that most users of their design output will be similarly varied, or more so.

2) Personal Characteristics

Students are challenged to generate a listing of personal parameters that might be useful to know about and consider when designing. They include:

Characteristics

Height

Weight

Handedness

Reach

Vision

Hearing

Strength

Stamina

Endurance

Grasp/dexterity

Mobility

Cognition

Emotion/Stress

Intelligence/literacy

Culture/language

Shape/size

Students are reminded that we all match up in various ways to these criteria and that our status is dynamic. Furthermore, students are cautioned about substituting proxies for the above listing. For example using age, disability, and gender as generic indicators of abilities for an individual is risky. The group covers the type, number, and combination of characteristics that are involved. What might these imply about the user? Care must be taken not to assume too much from these labels.

What can produce variations in these personal characteristics?

It is also easy to assume that abilities remain constant and that one's circumstances and personal characteristics will stay the same.

In reality, designers don't have to look far to begin to understand how abilities can vary. Our ability levels are different from person to person and can change over time depending upon our physical condition, our activity and our environment. Abilities can vary at birth, due to aging, injury, or accident. Abilities are changing constantly: sometimes changing slowly, sometimes changing swiftly and dramatically as when we are injured. We all have a 70% chance of having an ambulation problem that makes climbing stairs difficult or impossible over the course of our lives. Our performance can be affected by stress, or novelty. No one escapes the inevitability of change. For example, one of the most common occurrences, pregnancy, can result in difficulty bending, reaching, as well as producing changes in stamina and balance. Nor do we all reach a uniform level of peak performance of all abilities at a single time. Many regard the 18-25 year old as performing at the peak of all abilities. In fact, people's vision, on average is never better than it is at age seven. Changes due to aging are not just about being old.

• Introduction to the Principles of Universal Design(c), examples - Students are introduced to examples through PowerPoint presentations of product, architecture, graphic, information systems.

Include a discussion of the broadest possible definition of universal design (ethnic/cultural, socioeconomic) and scale (land use issues) while emphasizing that we will deal with physical-sensory-cognitive usability.

History of universal design

Different disciplines

Different scales

Introduction to the Center for Universal Design

• Societal Transition to Universal Design

Universal design is becoming more and more commonly found. Discussion explores the expansion of some products and architectural features from assistive technology and accessibility to larger universal design markets. Following this the class looks at commonly used products that may be overlooked as universally usable.

• Assistive technology and accessible products and features become universal as a result of common use, universal appeal, and improved design. These may have originate or proliferated because of a perceived benefit to people with disabilities.

Curb cuts - (ramps) level entrances
Elevators - in 2-4 story buildings.
Lever door handles
Lever faucet handles
Open/closed Text captioning on public TV's
Volume controls on pay phones
Speech recognition programs on computers

• Commonly used products that are universal but may not be looked at that way.

Closet storage systems
Remote control - automation
Garage
TV
Grocery door openers
Large building door openers
airports
Workstations
Desks
Chairs
International signage

Video screens that augment the audio feedback at some fast food drive through.

Conclusion: Universal Design

In summary, designers have the power to affect how we feel about ourselves and the world. Bad design can make us feel frustrated, incompetent, produce an emotional content that can make you feel inadequate.

Universal design is a process of an inclusive way of thinking about and designing for a broad range of users and environmental circumstances. It can also be thought of as common sense design or good design. The result of universal design is spaces, products, and communication materials that work for people now and throughout their lifespan.

For more information contact Richard Duncan at rc_duncan@ncsu.edu.

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Citation: Duncan, Richard (2003). Universal Design Introductory Seminars ©. Retrieved (Enter Date), from Universal Design Education Online web site: http://www.udeducation.org/teach/course_mods/duncan.asp