Universal Design Approaches

Most people walk past the wheelchair button without thinking about it. Some avoid pressing it because they assume it is only for people who visibly need it. Others avoid it because they want to save it for the right moment. I used to think that too. Then I learned from Tiffany Lyman Otten what actually keeps these doors working. The button is not a backup. It is the primary mechanism that protects the hydraulics. When people pull the door open by hand, the strain builds up. Over time, the door becomes harder to open. Eventually, it stops opening at all. That is how someone ends up stuck outside a building with no way to get in. This is one of the clearest examples of universal design in everyday life. Something built for one group ends up helping everyone. Parents with strollers. People carrying boxes. Someone recovering from surgery. Someone with arthritis. Someone who is simply having a hard day. Pressing the button keeps the door working for all of them. If you want to support universal design in the smallest possible way, start by pressing the button the next time you see one. It protects access for the widest range of people. And you never know who is counting on that door to open. Image: Outside entrance to a building with the accessible door button on a pedestal.

Did you know there’s a font designed just for accessibility? Meet Atkinson Hyperlegible, it was created by the Braille Institute of America to help people with low vision read more easily. It’s not a braille font (doesn’t include raised dots), but a print typeface. It even won the Fast Company Innovation Design Award in 2019! Molly Burke recently worked with her publisher to use the font for her memoir, Unseen. What makes it different? ⤵️ Hyperlegible exaggerates letter shapes so you can tell the difference between the letter “o” and the number zero (0), capital “i” vs. lowercase “l”, and the capital letter “b” vs. the number “8”. Other design features include: - Big open shapes - Clear spaces inside letters (known as open counters) - Distinct forms for commonly confused characters But who benefits? People who are blind or low vision, and people with dyslexia or visual processing differences. Clearer text equals easier reading! And the best part? It’s totally free 🎉 You can download it via Google Fonts or from the Braille Institute website. It also happens to be the same font this graphic post is written in. Accessibility isn’t always about doing more. It’s about doing things so that everyone benefits! This font is a small design choice with a big impact. Next time you design something: Try Atkinson Hyperlegible. Because readability is inclusion. Did you know about this font?  Share your thoughts or tag a designer friend in the comments! 👇 Image Description: Document with 9 slides. Each slide has a lime green border. The Blindish Latina logo with bold graphic black outline of an eye is at bottom of all slides. There is a white background behind all of the text on all slides. The text is in black and some emphasized phrases are purple. On the bottom of slides 1 and 7 is an image of Catarina, a light-skinned, Latiné woman with medium length wavy brown hair. She’s wearing a black jumpsuit with a V neck and her hands are on her hips. Slide 1 is the title slide that reads: “Did you know there’s a font designed just for accessibility?” On slide 1 there is clip art of a book with a red cover and a brain inside a light bulb. Slide 2 has clip art of an award ribbon. Slide 3 has a screenshot of advocate & content creator Molly Burke speaking at an event from one of her TikTok videos inside the outline of an iPhone. Slide 5 has a dark purple check mark inside a circle. Slide 6 has clip art of a computer outline in black with a wrench and gear in the center. All text on the slides is in the caption and alt text. #Disability #Accessibility #UniversalDesign

🌱 Sustainable UX Toolkits & Resources (https://lnkd.in/eT6ZR3qz), a large (!) repository of toolkits, Figma templates, books, case studies, articles on sustainable UX — throughout the entire product design process. Kindly put together by the SUX - The Sustainable UX Network, via Thorsten Jonas. Sustainable UX Database (Notion) https://lnkd.in/eyZjigBx As designers, we often are left wondering how to integrate sustainable practices into our design work. Most environmental impact happens on our user’s devices, so we can help our users by reducing waste. Typically, when we speak about sustainability, we mean at least 4 facets of it: 🌱 Reducing waste ← In publishing, heavy visuals, animation, PDFs, 🌻 Deleting content ← Un-publishing outdated, misleading content/flows, 🐝 Maximize reusability ← UI components, flows, processes, templates, 🌳 Sustainable defaults ← Help people make more sustainable choices. In practice, we could use simple but impactful design patterns: 1. Always prefer the lightest mode of communication. 2. Aim to reduce session duration instead of increasing it. 3. Encourage the reuse of existing templates and presets. 4. Auto-delete after 365 days what hasn’t been used once. 5. Discourage users from PDF exports in favor of URLs. 6. Always provide audio-only and transcript for videos. 7. Be intentional with default settings for your users. 8. Highlight key insights to create understanding faster. 9. Skip unnecessary pages: drive users to results faster. 10. Show filters/presets in autocomplete, not just keywords. 11. Nudge users to delete old files for 10% off that month. 12. Establish an archiving, deletion and clean-up policies. 13. Encourage and reward users for trying out dark mode. 14. Question font weights, stock photos, parallax, 4K-videos. 15. Question collected data, if it’s used and when it’s deleted. Individual actions can drive changes at scale. But they need a momentum. And momentum often comes through small changes: better defaults, reused filters and templates, reduced time on task. That’s also just good usability — and can have tangible impact for users and businesses at scale. Useful resources: Sustainable UX Toolkits, by yours truly https://lnkd.in/ePya82v3 Designing For Planet Knowledge Hub (Notion) https://lnkd.in/eiHtpkJH Product Design for Sustainability (+ Google Doc template), by Artiom Dashinsky ↳ https://lnkd.in/dDnujb-t ↳ https://lnkd.in/d95FWb4r *HUGE* thanks to Thorsten Jonas, Isabel Pettinato, Christoph Stark, Alice M., Bavo Lodewyckx, Poppe G., Stine Ramsing and all wonderful contributors to the project. Your effort doesn’t go unnoticed! 👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾 #ux #design

The Basics Aren't Basic For Everyone. Pouring a glass of water, scooping food from a plate, fishing a spoon out of a deep bowl. Most of us barely register these movements. They sit in the brain's "auto‑pilot" drawer, somewhere between tying shoelaces and opening the fridge. For people living with sight loss, those same moments come with real risk. Spills, burns, frustration and the constant need to rely on someone else. Most tableware is designed for people who can see every edge and lip clearly, and that gap becomes obvious fast. Industrial designer Jexter Lim set out to change that with Eatsy. At first glance it looks like simple, modern tableware. Soft shapes, calm colours, nothing that hints at medical or specialist products. It would fit into any kitchen without standing out. The shift happens in the details. Each piece includes a small silicone flap, and that single feature changes how the whole set works. On the cup, the flap becomes a tactile guide that helps prevent spills. On the plate, a raised, sloped corner makes scooping easier. The spoon hooks onto the bowl instead of sinking into the food. Small adjustments that remove a lot of friction. It lands in a sweet spot. Practical enough to solve real challenges, designed well enough for anyone to use. Kids, older adults or any of us having a clumsy day. And because it blends in with everyday tableware, it avoids the stigma that often follows adaptive products. It's simply good design doing its job. More than 2 million people in the UK live with sight loss that affects daily life. Around 360,000 are registered as sight impaired or severely sight impaired. That's a lot of people who could benefit from thoughtful design that doesn't single them out. Eatsy shows what happens when design starts with empathy instead of assumptions. It makes the routine parts of the day a little easier to handle. 📷Jexter Lim

We design for the average. The average doesn’t exist. April is Autism Acceptance Month. Designing for autism is about building products that work for everyone. Cognitive overload affects everyone. Your brain has limits, and more noise can affect how you perceive things. For some autistic users, this is constant and amplified. Many rely on digital products to navigate daily life. Yet most interfaces ignore them. So what happens? We design experiences that overwhelm the people who need them most. And if your product overwhelms autistic users, it’s exhausting everyone else. Here are 5 principles to get you started: 1. Consistent Structure Keep navigation, layout, and UI patterns identical across your entire product. Why: Sudden changes cause anxiety and disorientation. Example: Shopping cart stays in the top-right corner across every page. 2. Literal Communication Use plain, direct language. Skip idioms and metaphors. Why: Vague language requires guessing and creates confusion Example: "Your payment was declined. Check your card number and try again." 3. Sensory Calm Use muted, natural colours. Avoid pure black/white and bright contrasts. Why: Extreme contrast and bright colours cause sensory overload Example: Dashboard with soft beige background, dark grey text, and 3-4 clearly separated sections 4. User Control Default to sound off. Allow people to pause, stop, or disable animations. Why: Sensory needs vary greatly, and customization prevents overload. Example: Toggles for reduced motion, dark mode, font size, and autoplay off by default. 5. Predictable Interactions Provide clear feedback and progress indicators so users always know where they are. Why: Unexpected interruptions trigger anxiety and break focus. Example: Multi-step form shows "Step 2 of 4" with a progress bar, confirms "Your information was saved" after each step. Better design starts with understanding. 👇🏽What would you add to this list? 🔖 Save this for reference ♻️ Share it with your team ---- ✉️ Subscribe for more accessibility and design insights: https://lnkd.in/gZpAzWSu ---- Accessibility note: This infographic, titled Designing for Autism has the same content as the post. It also includes alt text.

Why inclusion and universal design need to come together We often hear organisations talk about diversity and inclusion. Yet inclusion alone isn’t enough if the systems we work within were never designed with difference in mind. A review by Shore and colleagues (2018) (https://lnkd.in/e6vjNAXM) looked at what makes workplaces truly inclusive. They emphasised fairness, authenticity, and equal access to opportunities. Their model shows that inclusion is not just about who is in the workforce, but whether everyone feels respected, valued, and able to participate fully. But here’s the challenge: many workplace practices are retrofits. Adjustments are made once someone discloses a need or points out a barrier. That can work but it’s often costly, time-consuming, and can unintentionally stigmatise the individual. This is where Universal Design (UD) comes in. Instead of waiting to respond, UD builds accessibility, flexibility, and usability into everyday business-as-usual. It reduces the number of case-by-case “fixes” by planning for variation from the outset. For example: Providing captions and transcripts in training as standard helps Deaf staff, those learning English, and anyone re-watching on mute. Clear communication, step-by-step checklists, and structured task tools reduce overload not only for neurodivergent employees but for everyone. Designing sensory-friendly workspaces supports those with sensory sensitivities—and also improves focus and wellbeing for the whole team. So how do the two approaches differ and align? Inclusion models focus on culture: creating fairness, authenticity, and psychological safety. Universal Design focuses on structures: embedding accessibility and flexibility into systems, tools, and environments. Bringing them together means leaders shape workplaces that are both fair and functional, inclusive and accessible. For employers, this isn’t just the right thing to do it’s efficient. Many UD approaches are low or no cost, but they reduce duplication, improve resilience, and make personalised support less stigmatising. 👉 Take away.... Inclusive practices creates the right mindset; Universal Design creates the mechanisms. Together, they help us move from patching barriers to preventing them.

Sustainable Design Strategies 🌎 Sustainable design principles are increasingly being integrated into product life cycles, and six complementary strategies are at the forefront of this transformative approach. ▪ Dematerialization: Companies are increasingly seeking ways to reduce material use while maintaining functionality. This strategy leverages digitization to add features without additional material or weight, fostering new, sustainable business models and urging a shift in consumer mindset towards more efficient products. ▪ Next-Best Material Selection: The selection of materials like biodegradable or recycled options minimizes environmental impact without major functionality sacrifices. Innovations, such as plant-based substitutes for traditional materials, are being developed despite challenges related to cost and complex selection criteria. ▪ Green Supply Chain: Enhancing supply chains to be more environmentally friendly involves using materials and designing processes that reduce logistics and production impacts. This approach aims at cost reduction through energy efficiency and requires robust collaboration across teams. ▪ Longevity and Effective Usage: Extending product life through designs that facilitate repair and adaptation delays the replacement cycle and fosters brand loyalty. Though it may impact the adoption of newer models, it offers an avenue for quality perception and additional revenue from services. ▪ Product Efficiency: Designing for minimum energy and resource consumption during use is a direct response to consumer demand and a crucial step in reducing the overall carbon footprint. This efficiency is balanced against other product features and benefits, particularly in high-consumption models. ▪ Circularity: Emphasizing recyclable materials and design for product "second life" reduces both material and energy consumption. Despite the financial and logistical hurdles, circularity is critical for a sustainable transition, especially as optimized secondary materials become more cost-effective. These six strategies collectively address sustainability across product life cycles, presenting opportunities and challenges as industries adapt to a more environmentally conscious marketplace. Source: Boston Consulting Group (BCG) #sustainability #sustainable #design #esg #climatechange #climateaction #circularity #circulareconomy #productdesign

50 blind users helped design an email assistant before a single line of code was written. Sriram Ganesh spent his career building things for screens. Video games first, then augmented reality, then learning games for young children. In his early 30s, a genetic condition called cone rod dystrophy started taking his central vision away. The screens he had built for became hard to use. He built Lumin, a voice assistant for email on the iPhone that he uses himself every day.  On AXSChat, I asked him a question: you are a very technical person. How do you make sure that someone who is less comfortable with technology can use this too? His answer was the strongest part of the episode. Before his team wrote any code, they partnered with Lighthouse for the Blind in San Francisco. They recruited 50 people with sight loss and designed the product together with them. The application has one large call button. You end a call by saying "end the call", because finding a small button on a screen is real effort when you cannot see well. The text stays readable even at maximum font size, which is where many popular applications break. Then he gave us a live demonstration, connected to his real inbox. Seven emails summarised. An attached photo described in detail. A reply composed by voice, corrected mid-draft, and sent. All of it done without touching the screen. Debra Ruh came into the conversation sceptical. She uses voice tools every day and did not see why another one was needed. By the end of the demonstration she was asking how to sign up. Her reaction told me more than any product description could. Neil Milliken, who has used speech recognition systems for more than 25 years, said the onboarding was the easiest he had seen. He also made an important point: he has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and the conversational design worked for him because it did not ask him to remember commands. That says something about how well the interaction was designed. Neil and Debra then pushed Sriram on trust. His answer was unusually specific. Lumin lists its cloud providers on the first screen of the application, not in the terms and conditions. The company pays for contracts that stop those providers from training on user data. You can ask "Lumin, what do you know about me?" and it will tell you. You can delete your account and everything is wiped within 24 hours. Listen to the full conversation with Sriram Ganesh of Lumin. Link in the comments. #AI #Accessibility

Something I wish more people understood about offices is this: For many #neurodivergent people, the workday starts before the work does. It starts with bright lights, overlapping conversations, chair noise, footsteps, smells, background music, and the constant effort of filtering it all out. By the time the actual job begins, a lot of energy is already gone. This isn’t about being sensitive. It’s about cumulative load. And the good news is, a lot of that load is optional. Simple things help more than people realize. → Keeping shared spaces quiet and moving calls into separate rooms. → Normalizing headphones instead of ambient music. → Letting people dress for comfort, not conformity. → Offering quieter places to eat when cafeterias get overwhelming. → Designating a low-stimulation space to decompress, softer lighting, and somewhere to breathe. → Replacing harsh fluorescent lights with natural light where possible. These aren’t perks. They’re accessibility choices. What building Mentra has taught me is that most people don’t struggle because they can’t do the work. They struggle because the environment keeps draining them before they even get a chance. When we design spaces that reduce sensory friction, people don’t just cope better, they think more clearly, collaborate more intentionally, and stay longer. Calmer environments create better work. What’s one sensory stressor in your workplace that could be softened with a small change?

Neuroinclusive by Design: why it’s neuroscience — not “niceness” — and 10 tweaks leaders can make. Most organisations say they “support neurodiversity”. Far fewer have actually designed work so neurodivergent people can thrive without constantly asking for exceptions. Neuroscience explains why this gap matters. When work is unclear, unpredictable, noisy or judgement-heavy, the brain’s threat system (centred around the amygdala and stress-response networks) switches on. In that state, energy is pulled away from the prefrontal cortex — the part of the brain responsible for planning, prioritising, working memory, emotional regulation and flexible thinking. The result? Capable people appear distracted, slower, reactive or “underperforming” — not because they lack skill, but because their brains are operating in survival mode. This effect is amplified for neurodivergent adults whose brains already expend more energy on sensory processing and executive function. Poor design quietly taxes health and performance at the same time. Psychological safety does the opposite. Clear expectations, predictable communication and normalised adjustments calm the nervous system, bring the prefrontal cortex back online, and unlock creativity, problem-solving and collaboration. Here are 10 tweaks leaders can make. 1. Build “How do you work best?” into inductions and regular 1:1s Don’t wait for crisis or disclosure — proactive asking reduces vigilance and builds trust. 2. Give every meeting a clear purpose, agenda and outcome — shared in advance This lowers cognitive load and allows time to process, rather than forcing real-time scrambling. 3. Follow verbally heavy meetings with concise written notes Decisions, owners and deadlines support working memory and reduce anxiety. 4. Use quarterly job-crafting conversations Ask: Which tasks energise you? Which drain you? What small swaps could we make? This aligns work with motivation and dopamine systems, not constant effortful compensation. 5. Make flexibility part of the design, not a special favour Agreed WFH, focus days and quiet reduce masking and social threat. 6. Audit your environment for sensory overload — and fix one thing -all feed directly into nervous system regulation. 7. Protect focus blocks where instant replies aren’t expected. 8. Increase predictability Share what’s coming next week and next month to support planning, energy and executive function. 9. Ask servant-leadership questions in 1:1s “What’s getting in the way of your best work — and what can I remove or change?” 10. Treat disclosure and adjustment requests as gold-dust feedback Thank people, explore options together, and follow up. Feeling believed actively calms the threat system. None of this is about being “nice”. It’s about designing work that allows brains to stay regulated, so people can actually do the work you hired them to do. #NeuroinclusiveLeadership #NeurodiversityAtWork #ADHDAtWork #AutismAtWork