INCLUSIVE DESIGN WORKSHOP
How can we apply design thinking and inclusive design principles to different problems?
This hands-on workshop introduced design thinking at the Assistive Technology Industry Association 2020 Conference.
“I truly enjoyed using the inclusive design workbook. I would love for you all to do this again at RESNA” - Conference Director, RESNA.
This image shows Nandita facilitating the session with other participants during the Inclusive Design workshop.
WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Planning for this workshop began in September 2019, and it was held in Orlando, FL on January 29th, 2020. We were also invited to conduct this workshop at another conference, RESNA 2020.
I lead the overall session, and the various facilitators at each table helped attendees work through the workbook for the inclusive design process . We targeted the following three areas that would form themes for attendees to constrain the problems:
Health & Well-being
Safety and Independence
Social Engagement
Each table selected a unique problem and spent the 3 hours working as a team and building a concept around their selected area using the inclusive design framework.
MY ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
This image shows he Inclusive Design workbook surrounded with other materials like pens, paper, clips and sticky notes.
I led the project management for this effort, where I created a project timeline, and kept the team on track through the process.
I designed and led the 4 hour participatory design workshop as a facilitator; along with different materials, I also designed a workbook, that will be used for later workshops this year. We had table and the various facilitators at each table helped attendees work through the workbook for the inclusive design process.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Bryce Johnson, co-inventor of the Xbox Adaptive Controller and Inclusive Lead at Microsoft Devices, began the session by sharing his journey in Inclusive Design and explaining the Inclusive Design Framework that they use at Microsoft! He not only showed us examples, but also shared stories of how inclusive design impacted many users and set the stage for the workshop.
This image shows Nandita Gupta and Bryce Johnson, Inclusive Lead at Microsoft Devices, dressed in grey outside the conference halls.
INCLUSIVE DESIGN PROCESS
This image shows different participants presenting their findings at the end of the session.
Participants worked as three different teams, and I facilitated the session using the workbook. We also provided multiple ways to access the workbook to meet the accommodations of some of our participants.
At the end of the workshop, all the three teams shared their process and concepts with the whole group.
IMPACT
This effort was done in collaboration with Tools for Life and was an immense success!
Participants signed up to stay in touch for future collaboration projects. We were also invited to conduct this workshop at another conference, RESNA 2020.
This image shows all the attendees from the conference in one picture.