Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

In austere Britain, design has the potential to inspire innovation, improve quality, and encourage collaboration in public service provision.

In times of recession the UK tends to leave the shape of public services as they were. Yet after a two-year pilot study of service transformation run by the Design Council and sponsored by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Lord Michael Bichard argues that good design can both achieve savings and offer better public services.

Perceived impact on siblings of having a brother or sister with congenital heart disease

Background: Survival rates for children with congenital heart disease have increased. However, many of these children are now living with increased co-morbidities. Contemporary healthcare promotes home care, and this is being provided by children’s families. Siblings of children with congenital heart disease are often unintentionally overlooked in research and family centred care strategies. Having a sibling with congenital heart disease affects siblings too, the extent and perceived impact remain unknown. Aim: To explore perceived impact on children and young people of having a sibling with congenital heart disease. Methods: Guided by a family advisory group and Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory, a mixed methods sequential exploratory study design was used for this exploratory research and integrated findings are reported. The population was children and young people who had a brother/sister with congenital heart disease, aged 8-17 years old, living in the UK. Phase one involved virtual semi-structured interviews (n=17) exploring experiences. The Pictorial Representation of Self and Illness tool was used to allow visual demonstration of perceived impact. Phase one data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Phase two involved questionnaires (n=52) in which Resilience, Interpersonal perceptions, Intrapersonal relationships, Fear and Communication were measured using two validated scales, the Sibling Perception Questionnaire and Child and Youth Resilience Measure. Results: Five themes were identified from phase one: My life looks different, Always you before me, My role in our family, Effects on me and moving forward and How COVID-19 changed things for me. In phase two high levels of resilience were demonstrated but communication, intrapersonal perception and intrapersonal relationships could be strengthened and level of fear about the illness could be reduced to improve outcomes. Integrated findings suggest relationships, peer support, communication, information, and inclusion of siblings at home and in hospital were vital recommendations for practice. Contribution to knowledge: This is the first study to utilise a mixed methods design and Bronfenbrenner’s bio-ecological systems theory to gain a holistic view of the perceived impact on siblings of having a brother or sister with congenital heart disease, from a sibling’s perspective. Virtual interviews and online questionnaires helped to gain a broad understanding of the ever-evolving landscape of perceived impact. Whilst findings suggest this population group are generally resilient, interventions focusing on maintaining resilience and supporting positive relationships, communication and inclusion should be developed to support siblings throughout their life course

Who Put the P in Policy? The reality of guidelines and legislation in the design of the accessible toilet.

2-4 April 200

The Toilet Paper Newsletter

Newsletter that supports the research undertaken as part of the TACT3 Consortia, funded by the New Dynamics of Ageing programm

The Toilet Paper Research Newsletter

Latest issue of the Toilet paper research newsletter detailing progress on the TACT3 and RATs research project

Welcoming Workplace: Rapid Design Intervention to Determine the Office Environment Needs of Older Knowledge Workers

This book chapter details the context, methods, findings and implications of the Welcoming Workplace project (RCA, 2006–8), which was part of Phase 2 of the Designing for the 21stCentury Research Programme (AHRC-EPSRC), directed by Professor Tom Inns, University of Dundee. It describes (pp. 208–24) an interdisciplinary study to determine the office environment needs of older workers in the knowledge economy. Myerson was principal investigator on the project. The research uses a mix of architectural, anthropological and design techniques to give older workers a ‘voice’ in the workplace. At the heart of the study is a series of ‘rapid design interventions’ on sites in the UK, Japan and Australia to create temporary experiential work settings for testing and evaluation. It discusses how the research team worked with academic partners (Universities of Melbourne and Kyushu) to create these within the time and operational constraints imposed by large organisations. The study generated evidence-based design guidance on the needs of older workers and significantly advanced the idea of inclusive office design. As a result, Myerson was invited to join the Workplace Productivity Group of the British Council for Offices (BCO), the professional body responsible for writing the BCO’s Guide to Specification (2009). Findings were also submitted to the Department of Work and Pensions and incorporated into its major strategy paper on an ageing society (2009). In addition, Myerson was asked by the Royal Institute of British Architects to contribute to its Good Office Design publication (RIBA Publishing, 2009, ed. David Littlefield). Myerson led a masterclass at the British Library as part of the ‘WorkTech London 2008’ conference to launch the Welcoming Workplace study, and he accepted a number of international invitations to speak on the research: at the Office and Facility Conference Warsaw, Norwegian Design Council Oslo and Tongji University Shanghai (all 2010)

Digital Barriers: Making Technology Work for People

This paper was originally given as an oral presentation at the ‘3rd International Conference for Universal Design’, International Association for Universal Design, Hamamatsu, Japan (2010) and subsequently published. Peer reviewed by the conference’s International Scientific Committee, it looks at how the emerging techniques of design ethnography could be applied in a business context and qualitatively evaluates the benefits. It outlines the differences between inclusive design research conducted for digital devices/services and the large body of existing research on inclusive products, buildings and environments. It advances the view that technology companies are today in danger of repeating the same inclusive design mistakes made by kitchen and bathroom manufacturers 20 years ago, and calls for technology companies to develop new techniques to avoid this happening. The paper charts in detail the challenges and processes involved in transferring academic inclusive design research into the business arena, describing research conducted by Gheerawo and his co-authors on projects with research partners Samsung and BlackBerry. The paper helped define the ‘people and technology’ research theme in the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design’s Age & Ability Research Lab, which Gheerawo leads. It was also important, as part of evidence of the benefits of an inclusive technology approach, in persuading a number of companies (Sony, BT, Samsung) to undertake new studies with the Lab. Gheerawo used this pathfinder paper in further work, including an essay on digital communication for www.designingwithpeople.org (i-Design3 project EPSRC), membership of the steering committee for Age UK’s Engage accreditation for business, and lectures at ‘CitiesforAll’ conference, Helsinki (2012), ‘WorkTech’, London (2010), ‘Budapest Design Week’ (2011) and the ‘Business of Ageing’ conference, Dublin (2011). Gheerawo also co-wrote an article ‘Moving towards an encompassing universal design approach in ICT’ in The Journal of Usability Studies (2010), for which he was also a guest editor

Publicly Accessible Toilets: An Inclusive Design Guide

This guide has been developed from an inclusive design philosophy. It aims to incorporate the needs, aspirations and desires of people of all ages, abilities and ethnicities, who will become the future users of its design outcomes. ‘Publicly accessible toilets’ refers to all toilets that the public can access without having to buy anything. This includes those in shopping centres, parks and transport hubs, as well as the public toilets and community toilet schemes provided by the local authority

The Accessible Toilet Resource

Extract: This Accessible Toilet Design Resource has been produced from new primary research carried out within VivaCity 2020, a large university-based research consortium that is developing tools and resources to support the design of socially inclusive cities. The consortium is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It was set up in 2003 and will complete its work in 2008. The Resource is concerned primarily with the design of the accessible toilet cubicle that should be provided for customer or public use wherever there is standard toilet provision. Though it may make reference to other types of toilet cubicles, urinals, automatic public conveniences (APCs) or grouped toilet provision, the location and design of these facilities are not addressed in great detail here. The location and design of accessible toilet facilities merits this independent, detailed scrutiny because it is essential to provide these facilities and to design them correctly, so that disabled people can participate on equal terms to able-bodied people in every aspect of city life