All language subtitles for 21 - Universal design, inclusive design, and equity-focused design.en

Hey there. I'm Shabi,

an interaction designer
here at Google.

My role focuses on scaling

accessibility across
Google's design systems.

After high school,
I wasn't really

sure what kind of career
would be a good fit for me.

I was interested in technology,

but I didn't have any
technical knowledge,

so I was afraid I wouldn't
do well in the field.

But eventually, I realized what

a huge impact advances in

tech had on society and my life.

I wanted to harness this power to

positively affect the
lives of people around me,

especially those who tend to

be marginalized or forgotten.

As an intern in UX design,

I worked on products for
people with chronic pain.

I realized how
important and impactful

it is to consider the needs
of people with disabilities,

and how much I wanted to
create products to help them.

So I continued researching

and empathizing
with those who are

disabled to understand how

I could uplift them with my work.

It's a passion I'm
looking forward to

sharing with you
during this program.

So far, you've learned
about user-centered design,

which concentrates on
meeting users' needs.

As we mentioned before,

there are many UX
design frameworks,

and those frameworks
change over time.

In this video, we'll talk
about three more ways to put

the user first in your
designs: universal design,

inclusive design, and
equity-focused design.

Let's start from the beginning.

When designers began
considering how to

include an even broader range
of people in their designs,

they called it universal design.

Universal design is the process

of creating one product for

users with the widest range of

abilities and in the widest
range of situations.

Think of it like a
one-size-fits-all approach.

Designers propose one
solution for everyone.

The problem is that
when you focus on

creating one solution
for everyone,

the designs lose
their effectiveness.

It's often difficult to
achieve any goals with

your product when you have
so many intended users.

It's like when you go to a store

that sells a hat
in just one size,

the label might read,

One-size-fits-all, but the hat

still won't fit a lot of people.

Universal design had
the same problem.

Even though it had the
intention of being inclusive,

it excluded a lot of people.

It turns out one-size-fits-all
isn't a great solution.

As UX designers realized that

universal design didn't meet
the needs of every user,

the approach to including
people began to change.

Designers started thinking about

the concept of inclusive design,

which focuses on finding

solutions to meet
different needs.

Inclusive design means
making design choices

that take into account

personal identifiers
like ability,

race, economic status,
language, age, and gender.

Inclusive design includes
researchers and designers from

traditionally excluded
populations in the process,

so they can provide their
unique perspectives

during all phases of
the design process.

If universal design is a
one-size-fits-all solution,

then inclusive design
can be described

as solve for one, extend to many.

With inclusive design, you
solve for one type of user,

and the benefit of
that solution can

extend to many other
types of users.

Our goal as designers is
to build experiences that

are accessible to users with

the widest range of abilities.

In other words, no one should
be excluded from using

a product that we
built because we

didn't consider their
needs when building it.

In inclusive design, there's
no such thing as normal.

There's no average person

or target audience that
we should design for.

For example, when designing

we focus on the needs of
people who are blind and

deaf even more than we
consider the needs of

those who rely on their sight
and hearing to communicate.

Then as we build more
versions of a product,

we design for additional
excluded groups,

like those with physical
or cognitive disabilities.

Designing products,
devices, services,

or environments for people with

disabilities is
called accessibility.

Accessibility is just one
aspect of inclusive design.

We'll explore accessibility
in more detail later.

But keep in mind that the
idea of "solve for one,

extend to many," only
benefits the group

the design was created
for and existing users.

Many groups are still left out.

Over time UX designers

realized that inclusive
design wasn't always enough,

and that's where we
find ourselves today as

equity-focused design
becomes a new industry goal.

Equity-focused design
takes the idea

of inclusive design
one step further.

It asks designers to focus

on designing for groups that have

been historically
underrepresented or

ignored when building products.

The goal of
equity-focused design is

to uplift groups that have
been excluded historically.

In order to design
with equity as a goal,

we first need to
know the difference

between equality and equity.

The two words sound similar,

but they're actually
two different concepts.

Equality means providing
the same amount

of opportunity and support
to all segments of society.

In other words, everyone
gets the same thing.

Equity means providing

different levels
of opportunity and

support for each person in

order to achieve fair outcomes.

To better understand
the difference

between equality and equity,

check out this illustration.

The illustration on the
left represents equality

because every person gets
the same box to stand on,

but because each person has

a different height the tallest
person has a better view.

The illustration on the
right represents equity,

because each person is

given what they need.

The shortest person is given

the tallest stack of boxes

to stand on.

Let's explore how this

relates to design.

Equity-focused design is
a newer concept in UX,

and one that we often
discuss at Google.

Instead of building products
for groups of people who are

currently being excluded,

which is the goal
of inclusive design,

equity-focused design seeks
to build products that meet

the needs of specific
individuals in groups

who have been
excluded in the past.

So what does this look
like in the real world?

Start by identifying a
product you want to build.

Then, think about the
groups that have

not been served by this type
of product in the past.

Finally, build your design
while keeping the groups who

identified as underrepresented
front and center.

It's important to
keep in mind that

equity-focused design
doesn't solve all problems,

just like inclusive design and

universal design don't either.

The key point is that

these are all different
approaches to solving

issues of underrepresentation and

designing for a more
equitable future.

These issues are massive,
but vitally important.

Often, schools and companies

consider accessibility,
inclusive design,

and equity-focused design as

methods to consider during
the design process,

but not as a requirement.

But I'm a firm believer that

every designer should
know the basics of

accessibility and why
creating products for those

who are underrepresented
and excluded is a must.

As you continue
through your career,

you'll gain more practice and

understanding on how to
implement these ideas.

We'll get to some more
applications of this soon.