-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
Exclusive Design Principles
In general, applications are built with the idea: It should work for everyone. For this reason, 'standards' are being created to ensure that it should work for everyone. But just like with a t-shirt size; by making something for everyone, you still exclude a lot of people. Because, not everyone is the same. One has a different size than the other.
This actually works in the same way when designing an application. Often designers assume that the design they see is seen by everyone in that way. While in reality this is often not the case. Just think about the amount of different devices out there. And this is just an obvious example. But there are also people with disabilities, both temporary and non-temporary.
For this reason it is therefore important to look at others who do not meet the 'standards' set by society. So no inclusive design, but so-called Exclusive Design. My teacher Vasilis has drawn up a number of principles for how to make an exclusive design:
In order to become a good designer and make a good design for everyone (inclusive design), it is important to first look at the different individual situations. We do this with the study situation principle, which looks at the specific situation of one person. Because: Not every person is the same. Someone with a disability may have completely different needs than someone else with the same disability, for example.
Conventions are devised in the inclusive design so that it makes sense for everyone and should work. But there are people where these conventions do not work at all and where these conventions make it more difficult for this person. This is why it is important in creating an exclusive design, to ignore the conventions and see what works for that specific person.
As a designer when you make a design for everyone (inclusive design), the chance that the designer actually makes something for himself / designers is much greater. That's why it is more important not only to design for someone, but especially with someone. By including this person in the process and also allowing them to make choices, you gain more insights. Certainly with this principle of prioritize identity, you ensure that the design is made specifically for someone else.
The last principle is add nonsense. Especially as designers it is important to see the web as a crazy place. A place where in principle everything should be possible. By adding something crazy to the exclusive design, you ensure that the site is not only functional, but that the user also loves using the application. This also makes it unique and not standard like the standards in the inclusive design.
©️ Veerle Prins, 2021.