Eamon McGraneattended a workshop on inclusive and universal design

BAD DESIGN of technology and other widely-used household products, which makes it difficult for older people and those with disabilities to use them, was the underlying theme of a workshop this week on inclusive and universal design, hosted by the National Disability Authority and Comreg.

As manufacturers go for more and more features, bells and whistles, they forget about functionality and ease of use.

According to Dr Sam Waller of Cambridge University's engineering and design centre, who was conducting a presentation at the event, many manufacturers do not understand the market and design products for themselves that exclude a large percentage of consumers.

Simple things, such as putting silver instructional lettering on the product that is the same colour as the background, are howlers when it comes to good and inclusive design.

Waller said that people who design products and services need to look at how the usage of the products they are working on could be affected by someone who was, for instance, visually impaired.

To this end Cambridge University's engineering and design centre has been endeavouring to simulate certain conditions to show how various disabilities affect functionality and interaction with the world.

As part of the presentation there was a workshop which forced participants to look at products in a different way - in other words, what could be the obstacles to using them?

For starters, should a product really need a 20-page manual on how to use it? And then there's the manual itself - the print is usually very small and can often be difficult for a fully-sighted person to read.

In addition, the symbols, commands and drop-down menus on some tech products can be difficult to understand and are not intuitive.

So what has been the reaction to the universal design project from the world of the manufacturers themselves?

According to John Clarkson, professor of engineering and design at Cambridge University, it takes years to breach the defences of the vendors.

He said one mobile phone company took two to three years before it would listen to the message. And then champions for the project within the company need to be found with the authority to make key decisions.

"And they have to challenge their production people to design inclusively and in a cost-effective manner as well. It's about being patient and educating people. The biggest thing we're waiting for is a family of products we can point to and say - these are universally designed products and they're profitable," Clarkson said.

So, when did product design become more focused on features than functionality? Is it a recent malaise or one that's been with industry for some time?

Clarkson said emerging technologies and products are usually very functional and straightforward to use, but once they get to the point where all the competitors have caught up and can produce the same thing then ease of use begins to take a back seat.

"It tends to get to the point where they're fighting each other with features, so the problem usually is when tech matures you get more features thrown in and the device becomes less functional and more difficult to use. It's an interesting challenge."

Disadvantaged by design

If manufacturers think inclusive design does not affect their market share, here are some sobering statistics: in Britain's population of 60 million, 10 million have a disability, nine million have a hearing impairment, 8.5 million have arthritis, one in 10 is left- handed, 8 per cent of men are colour blind and there are 14 million grandparents.

All of these groups are disadvantaged by bad design of products and services.