Cassim, J

Dong, H

English

Brunel University Research Archive

DBA Design Challenge: engaging design professionals with inclusivedesignJulia Cassim1 and Hua Dong2The value and relevance of inclusive design is increasingly recognised bydesign professionals in the UK. An initiative that has encouraged this is theDBA (Inclusive) Design Challenge. Organised by the Helen Hamlyn ResearchCentre (HHRC) at the Royal College of Art (RCA), it was launched in 2000 incollaboration with the Design Business Association (DBA), a majorprofessional organisation of designers.3The triggers for the event were the publication of two official reports - theAudit Commission's ‘Fully Equipped’[1] and the report published in August2000 by the Department of Trade and Industry [2]. The former highlighted thepoor levels of design endemic to the disability aids and equipment sector,while the latter described the difficulties disabled people have in usingeveryday consumer products.As an initiative, the DBA Design Challenge aimed to raise the profile ofinclusive design among small manufacturers and service providers in the careand disability sectors and help them identify and exploit innovationopportunities.  Its key focus was the development of new inclusive productsand services that could span niche and mainstream markets. In practice, theDBA Design Challenges has succeeded in attracting high levels ofparticipation from mainstream design consultancies.  Small manufacturersand service providers, however, have lagged far behind in their take-up of theprototypes or scenarios generated.The evolution of DBA Design ChallengesFor the DBA Design Challenges, leading design consultancies are teamedwith young disabled users and challenged to develop innovative scenarios fornew inclusive products and services for the mainstream market. Since 2000,the project has undergone three stages of development (Table 1):1. Trial stage: DBA Design Challenge 20002. Development stage: DBA Design Challenges 2001-20033. Mature stage: DBA Design Challenge 2004In 2000, four design firms participated in the first Challenge, working withdisabled user groups and individuals over a period of six weeks. This trialstage featured: a short project period, small and focused user groups and nocompetitive element. The results were presented to an audience of 240representatives from the design, disability, academic, public sector and                                                          1 Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, Royal College of Art, London SW7 2EU. julia.cassim@rca.ac.uk2 Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ.hd233@eng.cam.ac.uk3 It drew on the experience of three previous design challenges organised by the DesignAgeprogramme whose achievements led to the establishment of the HHRC in l999.business communities at an evening event at the RCA. The response was sopositive that the DBA Design Challenge became an annual event and amechanism whereby designers, disabled users and experts could be broughttogether in short-term collaborative design projects. The participating designfirms all felt that user groups had been a key tool to enable them tounderstand rapidly the fundamentals of inclusive design and were unanimousin praising the new creative insights gained through dialogue with theirdisabled contemporaries. They suggested turning the event into a designcompetition based on a live design project to further attract the designcommunity. This was taken into consideration the following year.From 2001 to 2003, the DBA Design Challenges followed an identicalprocedure:Mid September: DBA Design Challenge launch event withpresentation of example projects from previousyears.Late September: Deadline for short written proposals from potentialparticipants.Early October: Shortlist announcement.October-November: Visits to and mentoring of short-listed firms;provision of project-specific resource packs;organisation of user forums, further mentoring.Early December: Presentations by short-listed entrants to judgingpanel with final presentation and Award Ceremonythe next day.The evolution of an organisational procedure and the expansion of usergroups to include those with diverse and severe disabilities reflects theformalisation of the event. Participants were chosen to illustrate the vitalergonomic imperatives of the project and underscore the more subtlepsychological issues that needed to be addressed. The lateral copingstrategies developed by such users in response to their disabilities inspiredthe designers and stretched them creatively.The resource packs contained general information about inclusive design,specific information pertinent to the proposed project and the contact detailsof experts with whom they could discuss their ideas. Each year, in five to sixfirms were shortlisted and one or two winners were selected at the AwardCeremony. Follow-up interviews were carried out with participating firms toelicit feedback that was used to improve the subsequent DBA DesignChallenges.In 2004, the fifth year of the event, the DBA Design Challenge entered itsmature stage. Based on the feedback from previous participants, more usergroups were organised during the design process at the concept generationand evaluation stages with longer periods in between.  The event waslaunched in June, shortlisted in July and judged in December 2004.  TheAward Ceremony is scheduled for February 2005 to facilitate greater mediaexposure and attract interest from the public and potential clients.Table 1. Main features of three stages of developmentTrial stage:small user groupsDevelopment stage:award ceremonyMature stage:more user involvementDesign exemplars resulting from DBA Design ChallengesDBA Design Challenges have become an invaluable mechanism to promotedialogue and collaboration between the design, disability, voluntary,academic, public sector and business communities. A number of inclusivedesign exemplars have been generated. Those resulting from 2000 to 2003are listed in Table 2.Table 2. Inclusive design exemplars from DBA Design Challenges2000 2001 2002 2003‘Jumbo’ pack byFactory DesignPackaging designby SiebertHead‘Handle with Care’by Sieberthead‘Factory Wares’ byFactory Design‘Sensory Web’ byPriestman Goode‘Mobospace’ byBDG McColl‘c system’ by ColeyPorter Bell‘Eye Speak’ byLewis MoberlyDriving interface byRenfrew Group‘Inspiration Park’by ImaginationSmart Wearablesby PearlfisherDigital Wayfindingby Roundel andDalton MaagAccessible SportsWebsite byDesignhouse‘Re:mind’ byMarketplace‘i-connect’ byFitch:London‘Life Circle’ bySeachange‘Kettlesense’ byAlloy Total ProductDesign‘Shop Sense’ byKinneir Dufort &Appliance Studio'ello' bySeymourpowellDetails of these projects can be found on the web site of the Helen HamlynResearch Centre http://www.hhrc.rca.ac.uk/events/DBAChallenge/  and in theInnovate journal http://www.hhrc.rca.ac.uk/programmes/sbp/innovate.html.Impact of the DBA Design ChallengesTo date, a total of 25 design companies have participated in the DBA DesignChallenges, the majority small or medium sized firms. Over 100 designershave been involved.  Few had any prior experience of working directly withusers4, let alone those with disabilities. They valued the experience highly tothe point that two companies re-entered the Challenge to gain greaterexperience in this area.Around 40 enthusiastic users have contributed to the DBA Design Challengesas individuals or representatives of such voluntary organisations as ArthritisCare and the British Computer Association of the Blind. These users and theirorganisations are starting to demand that design be more inclusive5. More                                                          4 Their experience of focus groups was generally that of being an observational third party not a directparticipant.5 SCOPE, the main charity for cerebral palsy has made the promotion of inclusive design a major plankof their 2004 policy document ‘Time to get Equal’than 1000 people have attended the award ceremonies and public awarenessof inclusive design is growing because of media reports and the HHRC andother publications concerning the event.The 25 inclusive design exemplars covered the areas of product,environment, communication, transport and clothing design. The range ofdesign solutions has shown that inclusive design can be applied acrossdesign disciplines.The open nature of the briefs of DBA Design Challenges leaves thecompanies free to frame their proposals. Their investment in terms of timeand company resources has varied from company to company as have thedesign results. Of the 25 projects, 10 have commercial potential with twohaving been patented.DBA Design Challenges in retrospect and in the futureA number of factors account for the less competitive design solutions of theDBA Design Challenge:• Some companies had no business plan in mind when they entered theDBA Design Challenge. They started with ‘blue-sky’ concepts and littleconsideration of the practical constraints of commercialising the outcomes.• The majority of companies carried out the project during their ‘spare’ time(evenings and weekends). Once the presentation was over, they resumedtheir routine work and did not have time to advance the project.• Five companies chose to challenge themselves by doing somethingdifferent, i.e. beyond their expertise – one branding and graphics companyended up designing a product.• Sometimes designers were overwhelmed by the comments of user groupsand could not synthesise their ideas – this led to ambitious but superficialdesign solutions.• Since presentation was crucial, some companies spent too much timepackaging the presentation rather than developing the concept.• The involvement of manufacturers and potential clients was insufficient,and the media exposure limited.Its knowledge transfer remit aside, it would be beneficial if more commerciallyviable design solutions were generated as a result of the DBA DesignChallenges. Consequently, there are a number of areas for improvement:• The provision of a mechanism to facilitate the commercialisation of thedesign solutions such as helping the team find potential client partnersbefore the projects go into the public domain. The so-called NIH (NotInvented Here) factor, has been cited by the design firms as a reason whymanufacturers are reluctant to consider taking on some of the prototypesthat have been developed. This applies especially to product design but isless evident for such areas as communications and interface design wherethe project has allowed the firm to present an inclusive portrait of their bestworking practice and has been instrumental in securing commissions fornew work.• A greater level of manufacturer involvement would be helpful. This hasprimarily been the responsibility of the firms. Two in the 2004 Challengehave secured interest from manufacturers before the Award eventscheduled for February 2005. Two other projects from previous challengesthat are under consideration have resulted from introductions by theHHRC. It is a particularly problematic issue. Designers enter the Challengein a spirit of altruism and devote large amounts of their free time andcompany resources to participation. Were a client to be engaged early on,it could be argued that the project was essentially commercial in origin andthat design time should be compensated. It would also weaken thealtruistic and education nature of the experience and hamper the creativefreedom that has been so attractive to participating designers since thisquality is absent from much of their commercial work. This in turn would bea major disincentive to participation.• In the debriefing interviews held after each Challenge, the designers haveexpressed a desire for greater levels of publicity. This was a major factorin the decision to hold the Award event two months after the judging toallow for greater media exposure.• So far, around half of the participating companies have been from thecommunication/branding design sector, however, only six DBA DesignChallenge projects (a quarter) have focused on communication design.This may be due to the widespread misconception within the design worldthat inclusive design is relevant only to product or environmental design.With a greater number of exemplars from disciplines other than these, thisperception will change.• Greater support to help the participating companies pinpoint the designfocus quickly and concentrate on solving key problems. This is essentiallya time/human resources issue and would require greater inputs than isfeasible under the present level of funding.• Using good examples to inspire entry companies and encourage them toexplore inclusive solutions within their specialised field – to push theboundaries rather than follow conventions. (Where companies havechosen to work outside their area of expertise despite advice to thecontrary, the result has rarely been outstanding.)As evidenced by the follow-up interviews, all the participant companies wereunanimous in their belief that the DBA Design Challenge process had beenenjoyable and rewarding. Specifically, the user groups were found to beextremely useful [3, 4] and the overall benefits cited included: gainingcompetitive advantage, getting media exposure, enhancing internal teamwork,access to ‘critical users’, and the acquisition of new skills. As a result, theDBA Design Challenge can be seen as a strategy in engaging designprofessionals with inclusive design.References1. Audit Commission (2000) Fully Equipped -the provision of equipment toolder or disabled people, the NHS and social services in England andWales: London, Audit Commission.2. DTI (2000) A Study on the Difficulties Disabled People Have When UsingEveryday Consumer Products, Government Consumer Safety Research,Department of Trade and Industry, London.3. Dong H, Keates S, Clarkson PJ and Cassim J (2003) “Implementinginclusive design: the discrepancy between theory and practice”, inCarbonell N and Stephanidis C (eds.) Proceedings of Universal Access -Theoretical Perspectives, Practice, and Experience, 24-25 October 2002,Paris, France, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.4. Cassim J and Dong H (2003) “Critical users in design innovation”, inClarkson PJ, Coleman R, Keates S and Lebbon C (eds.) Inclusive Design:Design for the Whole Population, Springer –Verlag, London, UK, pp.23-32.

DBA design challenge: Engaging design professionals with inclusive design

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