Leading companies Nestlé, the UK retail chain Marks and Spencer and Bayer Healthcare are getting to grips with designing products and services for an ageing global population as part of a high-level consortia programme supported by the University of Cambridge, UK, writes Joanne Hunter.
By understanding what underlies ‘inclusive design’ (ID) companies can tap into a growth opportunity as they end everyday frustrations for a diverse cohort of often-affluent older consumers, says Rob Morland, director of the Inclusive Design Programme at the Centre for Business Innovation in Cambridge.
“The subtlety of designing inclusively is that it isn’t obvious to the customer. The best inclusive products don’t shout that they are for older people or those with reduced abilities. They are just seen by most people to be good product,” he said.
The Second European Inclusive Design for Competitive Advantage Consortium (ID-2) is now recruiting new members from top European companies. They will spend the next year designing mainstream products and services that are usable, and preferably a pleasure to use, by the greatest possible percentage of the population.
ID-2 participants will carry out ‘exclusion audits’ that measure the proportion of a target population that will be excluded from using a particular product, or will find it difficult or frustrating to use. Special aids have been devised to simulate reduced eyesight and manual dexterity for a better understanding of problems that many people encounter.
A consortium partner, the University of Cambridge Engineering Design Centre (EDC) has developed a business tool to work out the total cost of building in ‘people-centred’ product features and sales potential, to give more accurate return on investment (ROI) calculations and ease the challenge of making design decisions.
Ian Hosking, EDC senior research associate, said: “To create a business case for design change we have defined what ‘easy to use’ means, we have monetised it and have case studies to illustrate the benefits. It is then up to companies to make change, and we take consortium members through that process.”
Meanwhile, the 2010-11 consortium members are working to embed an inclusive design philosophy (a close cousin to the ‘universal’ design concept in the USA) across their businesses. Head of Packaging at Nestlé confectionery R and D centre David Wiggins expects that products incorporating ID features in their pack design will come to market “in the near future”.
The European Union already has 130 million people over 50 years old and by 2020 half of European adults will have reached their half-century. Recently published UK government statistics revealed that a baby girl born in 2011 has a one in three chance of living to 100 and a baby boy has a one in four chance. In 2066 the UK will have at least half a million centenarians.
