Designing for Amplified Needs
“If you make something work for someone for whom it currently works least, it works better for everyone” (Starr, 2021).
In 1972, American Computer Scientist, Vincent Cerf, created the first email protocol. He wanted to be able to communicate with his deaf wife Sigrid whilst he was at work. Cerf’s example highlights how designing for amplified needs e.g. people who are deaf or hard of hearing, have resulted in inventions that serve to benefit many more people for diverse purposes.
According to famous 20th century designer, Charles Eames, “recognising the need is the primary condition for design.” Designing for Amplified Needs goes further — it is the recognition that “if you make something work for someone for whom it currently works least, it works better for everyone” (Starr, 2021).
Amplified Needs refers to the needs of those on are commonly seen to be on the ‘margins’. Also known as ‘extreme users’, this methodology recognises that through designing for an ‘extreme user’, we are also fulfilling the needs of the ‘average’ user. Whilst the term, ‘extreme user’ can be traced back to Djajadiningrat’s seminal text, Interaction Relabelling and Extreme Characters, the concept of designing for amplified needs had existed many years prior.
According to Designer Bill Moddridge, studying ‘extreme’ users is essential because it helps avoid designing for ourselves. Furthermore, people with ‘amplified needs’ can be more aware of their needs and behaviours than the ‘average’ person. Today, the principle of designing for amplified needs is codified in Inclusive Design, a methodology pioneered by August de los Reyes and Kat Holmes at Microsoft. Check out Microsoft’s Inclusive Design toolkit here.
Inclusive Design follows three core principles:
1. Recognise Exclusion
2. Solve for one, extend to many
3. Learn from Diversity
Recognise Exclusion
Inclusive Design recognises that many of us cannot participate in aspects of society because these aspects are not designed well. For example, disability is not a personal attribute but “happens at the points of interaction between a person and society” (Microsoft Design, 2016:20). Exclusion is the result of ‘mismatched interaction’ between people, products and services. In Inclusive Design philosophy, designers must recognise that they have a responsibility to design for inclusion, rather than exclusion by “draw[ing] on the full range of human diversity” when designing products and services (2016:11).
Solve for one, extend to many
In the same way that email was initially created for the hard of hearing, so too was closed captioning. Today subtitles help people in many circumstances, whether you are watching a video in a public place or learning a new language.
Inclusive Design recognises a continuum of human abilities, from permanent disabilities to situational limitations and impairments. Using ‘Persona Spectrums’, we can understand how every person has a spectrum of abilities at a given time and in any given scenario. For example, things that help people with a motor, cognitive or vision impairment will also help someone driving a car. In the same way, something that is designed to help someone cognitively impaired will also benefit someone busy or distracted.
In this way, Inclusive Design is not about designing for a small minority but accepting that “everyone has abilities and limits to those abilities” across their daily lives and we need to design for this. Inclusive Design might solve for one, but it can be scaled to a much larger set of needs (Microsoft Design, 2016:34).
Learn from Diversity
In Inclusive Design, it is the role of designers to “draw on the full range of human diversity” when designing products and services. Inclusive Design is a human-centred approach to design that “puts people in the centre from the very start” and finds insight precisely in the diversity of perspectives (Microsoft Design, 2016:26).
Amplified Needs First in Higher Education
An ‘amplified needs first’ approach in Higher Education would bring huge benefit to staff and student experiences. In Thrown in the Deep End, our upcoming snapshot of Student and Staff Experiences during the Covid-19 Lockdown, we identified the wave of inequalities unleashed in the transition to digital home working. Covid-19 drew home the reality that we are not all in the same boat, despite the ubiquity of the phrase. Certain staff and students face significant challenges in balancing their home and caring responsibilities, connecting to a reliable internet connection and having access to a dedicated workspace.
By talking to staff and students with amplified needs about their experiences, we can gain insight into the acute challenges of digital participation and inclusion in Higher Education’s online working and learning environment. Designing for diversity and inclusion makes things better for all of us. For example, increased accessibility in learning materials for disabled students directly benefits all students. As we return to campus, we ask:
How Might We rethink inclusion so that rather than being a ‘nice to have’ it becomes a valuable and celebrated feature of every department, office and element of the HEI?
