Outside the box...

Design Thinking: Accessible Design

As designers, we have to keep our audience in mind at every stage in the design process. However, how often do we consider the disabled individuals within that audience? A design piece should be functional to every person within a given audience. Luckily, there are groups that enforce certain regulations and set a standard so that the quality and usability of the design won’t be compromised.

OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

The goal of OSHA is to ensure employee safety and health by working with both employees and employers to create better working environments. In order to reach the goal, OSHA focuses on three strategies: (1) strong, fair, and effective enforcement; (2) outreach, education, and compliance assistance; and (3) partnerships and cooperative programs. OSHA also has a partnership with the Voluntary Protection Programs (VPP) to assist in it’s efforts for safer working environments.

In order to promote safe practices within the workplace, it’s essential to have effective signage and operating directions. This is where designers come in. It’s our responsibility to create easy to understand, functional pieces so that workers can do their jobs safer and more efficient. 

BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association) 

BIFMA’s mission is to “lead, advocate, inform, and develop standards for the North American office and institutional furniture industry.” It is a not-for-profit organization that allows members to collaborate on industry issues. BIFMA provides voluntary product and industry standards that:

•  support safe, healthy, and sustainable environments
• publish key industry statistics
• advocate for legislation and government regulation that have a direct impact on the health of the industry
• facilitate meaningful dialog and education to support core services and the industry

Obviously this association specifically targets furniture designers. The designer of the piece of furniture can choose to voluntarily adhere to these standards or not, but I ask, “why not?” Consumers are looking for invest in well-made, durable, lasting furniture and it only increases the credibility of the designer if he chooses to uphold these standards within his work.

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) 

The ANSI “empowers its members and constituents to strengthen the US marketplace position in the global economy while helping to assure the safety and health of consumers and the protection of the environment.” The ANSI is actively engaged in accrediting programs such as the ISO 9000 (quality) and ISO 14000 (environmental) management systems. The primary goal is to enhance the global competitiveness of the US business and the American quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and ensuring their integrity.

Designers have such a huge influence on issues relating to quality/usability and environmental friendliness. It’s important for us to know and understand our options when it comes to building materials, environmentally friendly practices, and how a product can be more user friendly for the consumer.

ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) 

Unlike the ANSI and BIFMA, the ADA is not voluntary and there isn’t a choice to whether or not adhere to these regulations. Titles II and III of the act require that “facilities or the ‘built environment’ be accessible to people with disabilities.” This encompasses everything from buildings, playgrounds, recreation areas, stadiums, stress and pedestrian walkways and transit vehicles. The ADA contains scoping and technical requirements that are to be applied during the design, contruction, and alteration of building and facilities.

Just like we can’t discriminate against people when it comes to hiring, we can discriminate who can and can’t have access to public places. The ADA especially focuses on architects who are responsible for the overall layout of a building, but designers also have to keep these standards in mind. For example, if a designer were in charge of designing an exhibit, he must ask himself crucial questions such as: can an individual in a wheelchair see the product display if it’s X” off the ground? are the walkways between booths large enough for individuals in wheelchairs or on crutches to easily navigate through? Questions like these make designers push themselves in order to accommodate everyone in a given audience.

Design Thinking: William McDonough’s Top 10 Things They Never Taught Me In Design School

After reading Michael Beirut’s blog post of William McDonough’s Top 10 Things They Never Taught Me In Design School, I was rather relieved. The point that put me most at ease was the one about “talent is one-third of the success equation.” I think most designers at one point or another question themselves and their skills. I know I do, and that was beginning to make me a little nervous about venturing out into the working world.

I consider myself an extremely motivated perfectionist who works hard to complete even the most minute tasks to the best of my ability. So imagine my relief after reading that I’m technically already two-thirds of the way to success just by having a strong work ethic and doing the things that I’m already inclined to do.

 Other tips such as “don’t over-think a problem” and “don’t forget your goal” were also very important things to remember when working to solve a problem. I think it’s so easy to forget about the final objective when other issues and decisions come into play. “It all comes down to output” is another tip that hit close to home. During production class last year, I found out I had quite a few ugly habits that only made the whole output process that much more difficult. A teacher once told me that it doesn’t matter how great a piece of work is because it’s useless if you can’t get it off your computer screen.  How true. 

Design Thinking: Tangoes

There are several similarities between design thinking and the game of Tangoes. For one, it’s all about problem solving and trying multiple solutions. With multiple pieces able to make identical shapes, one must rearrange the pieces and try other options. Working to create a concept is a similar process; even though there may be multiple ways to communicate the same message, it’s important to select the one that will work well and have longevity and be effective.

I often look at working with a large amount of text like a puzzle. With both the Tangoes game and working with type, it’s hard to tell if everything is going to fit in the beginning. It’s not until you get going that you discover things aren’t going to fit properly. In order to fix this, one must rework the shape/text boxes. It may take a bit of trial and error in both cases, but the process of finding a solution is similar.

The Tangoes exercise was also similar to the way we work on projects in groups. Everyone may have their own idea, and it’s only beneficial to work out and try to see if each idea is feasible. Although some ideas and instincts may not work in the long run, you never know until you flush it out. It’s all about a collaborative effort and welcoming new ideas and strategies.