Title: Design and Inclusion
Author: Witt Witsan
Published: May 13, 2020

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# Design and Inclusion

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Inclusive design at its heart is a way of creating products and services that attempt
to reach the broadest range of people possible, particularly those in underserved
communities.^(1)

[Marc Coleman: Diversity And The Design Team](https://wordpress.tv/2016/12/11/marc-coleman-diversity-and-the-design-team/)

December 11, 2016 — The products we build as designers often have to reach a variety
of audiences. Some of best collaborations have benefited from diverse perspectives
and a unified effort. How do we create teams that value open participation by employees
with different perspectives and personalities? This talk will look at empathy, intersectionality
and other concepts as the relate to building and maintaining strong teams.

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[John Maeda: Computational Design and Inclusion](https://wordpress.tv/2016/12/12/john-maeda-computational-design-and-inclusion-2/)

December 12, 2016 — Products and services can be designed to be exclusive or inclusive—
it’s a conscious choice, and it’s often about the traditional tradeoffs of quality,
price, and deadlines to achieve greater margins and profitability. However, computational
products and services have ushered in a new world where we can now ship products
instantaneously at marginal costs close to zero — which brings unprecedented and
immediate accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) 
refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people 
with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access”(
i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive
technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Accessibility) to the largest total addressable market imaginable via the Internet.
It means that the nature of design needs to change, and also the way we think of
_who_ we are designing for needs to change. I’ve just begun this journey within 
the WordPress universe, and I’ll be sharing what I’ve gathered thus far on how more
inclusive approaches to design are the key to better designed products and service
in tech.

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[Morten Rand-Hendriksen: Empathy and Acceptance in Design and Community](https://wordpress.tv/2016/06/29/morten-rand-hendriksen-empathy-and-acceptance-in-design-and-community/)

June 29, 2016 — Working on and with the web is engaging in that most human of endeavors:
Communication. Even so, it’s easy to forget that the people we interact with and
those who access and interact with our creations are just that: People. Learn how
to make empathy and acceptance driving forces for your interactions and designs 
to build great informational experiences for everyone.

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**Source**

^(1) [https://www.fastcodesign.com/3062981/john-maedas-next-design-problem-the-tech-industrys-utter-lack-of-diversity](https://www.fastcodesign.com/3062981/john-maedas-next-design-problem-the-tech-industrys-utter-lack-of-diversity)

First published

May 13, 2020

Last updated

May 13, 2020

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