How can you create inclusive designs?

1 Understand your audience

The first step to create inclusive designs is to understand who your audience is, what their needs and goals are, and how they interact with your product or service. You can use various methods, such as surveys, interviews, personas, scenarios, user testing, and feedback, to gather data and insights about your users. You should also consider the diversity of your audience in terms of age, gender, culture, language, disability, education, income, and other factors that may affect their experience and expectations.

2 Apply accessibility standards

The second step to create inclusive designs is to apply accessibility standards and guidelines that ensure your product or service is compliant with the best practices and legal requirements for making it accessible for people with disabilities. For example, you can use the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to check the contrast, color, font size, readability, navigation, and structure of your web pages. You can also use tools, such as screen readers, keyboard-only navigation, and zoom functions, to test how your product or service works for different types of impairments.

3 Use inclusive language and imagery

The third step to create inclusive designs is to use language and imagery that are respectful, inclusive, and appropriate for your audience. You should avoid using jargon, slang, acronyms, or technical terms that may confuse or exclude some users. You should also avoid using stereotypes, biases, or assumptions that may offend or alienate some users. Instead, you should use clear, simple, and consistent language that conveys your message and tone effectively. You should also use imagery that represents the diversity and reality of your audience, and that avoids clichés, tokenism, or appropriation.

4 Design for flexibility and adaptability

The fourth step to create inclusive designs is to design for flexibility and adaptability, meaning that your product or service can adjust to different situations, preferences, and contexts of your users. You can use responsive design techniques to make your product or service work well on different devices, screen sizes, and orientations. You can also use adaptive design techniques to make your product or service adapt to different user inputs, settings, and environments. For example, you can provide options for changing the font size, color scheme, layout, or language of your product or service.

5 Seek feedback and improvement

The fifth step to create inclusive designs is to seek feedback and improvement from your users and stakeholders, and to use it to refine and enhance your product or service. You can use various methods, such as surveys, reviews, ratings, comments, testimonials, and analytics, to collect feedback and measure the performance and satisfaction of your product or service. You should also involve your users and stakeholders in the design process, and invite them to co-create, test, and evaluate your product or service. You should also be open to learning, experimenting, and iterating, and to embrace diversity and inclusion as an ongoing challenge and opportunity.

6 Follow ethical principles and standards

The sixth step to create inclusive designs is to follow ethical principles and standards that guide your design decisions and actions, and that ensure your product or service is fair, responsible, and respectful for your users and society. You can use various frameworks, such as the AIGA Design Business and Ethics, the Design Justice Principles, or the Ethical Design Manifesto, to inform and inspire your design practice. You should also be aware of the potential impacts, risks, and consequences of your product or service, and to avoid or minimize any harm, discrimination, or exploitation that may result from it.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?