Ep 306| Universal Design Principles - World class Designers skillset

Welcome guys. Welcome to this podcast. Thank you for staying tuning here in Design for Change. In this podcast I'm going to cover you what is universal design principles and why it is very very prevalent across the design field. In fact, if you take any Apple headset, if you take any global brands, if you take any logo, if you take Nike, if you take Tesla, if you take any big products and services, you can find that these brands are built not for one people or one set of target audience. It is a global and universal brand. Every culture, every people, every different ethnographic background can use it. Why? Because they've understood what is mean by universal design and how why they have created it. In this podcast you're going to learn what are all the five different universal principles and how you can do a live activity also to start learning this concept and making a sense out of it. Okay, with this context, let's jump into this podcast. Welcome guys. Welcome to this episode. Thank you for staying tuning here. Thank you for the very very good overwhelming support. I can also see that lot of people are still not subscribing our channel and please subscribe to this and also spread it to the friends whoever is there needing this kind of a support and also you'll be getting notified for the further episodes. Guys. Okay, so coming forward to this topic, Universal design principles. This is a very very important topic guys. The reason being being a designer I have really unlearned a lot of things after coming into the design field and one such unlearning is this. Previously I was thinking design is very subjective. Design is like okay, only few people like this colors, okay, few people like this graphics, not everybody really like this. Okay, let's. Let's make it only for this. After I started learning universal design principles, I really broke down all these things. I understood, I unlearned this factor and in this podcast I'm going to share you that why it is very important and why it has been necessary for this particular time where lot of design fields have emerged like let's say product design, ui, UX design, ui, furniture design, interior design, fashion design, apparel design, ceramic design, textile design, game design, digital design and like let's say there are a lot of design like let's say retail experience design, strategic design. There are n number of field in design which is coming guys, in spite of that what is universality? There are certain facts and principles which will never change. There are certain classical things which will never, never never get away from the system and if you tap into it, you as a designer are creating A far more difference for your users. And you will be able to touch not just one people, not just one million people, not just one crore people. But you can able to even impact the 7 billion people out there in the universe through your design. Okay, so this is the skill, what we are going to see today. First of all, why it is important. See, it will expand your market reach to a broader audience. That is a major, major thing. Particularly with respect to disability. Like let's say 1 billion people globally live with disabilities. How do you even cater for this market? See, being a universal designer, you should also think about how I can able to cater this design to a various audience, not just a normal people. Okay? You need to think about it. And second, it reduces the complexity. When you're broadening the product idea to many people automatically you have to make it so simple, so relevant, so, so, so easy. The reason being then everybody can't use it, right? Think about it. So your design should benefit all the user by minimizing the cognitive load. Okay? It's very vital. Guys, have you seen the name boats in the highway when you're driving? Have you ever absorbed it? What color is it in the, in the, in the national highways? I would say it's green in color. Right? It's a little soothing color. But I'll also put another perspective. If you travel to any abroad countries like Europe, you can see all the boats are blue in color. Why? Because blue is even more smoothing. It's very calm, relaxing, and it's very equivalent to the sky. And it's not very distracting. Even when people are driving in the highway with a full speed. Mostly it will be skies outside, right? And when the blue is there, they will be able to easily see it and calmly get it. And they won't get distracted at all. Imagine if you have a red board on top of it. Imagine if you have something like a very flashy colors that will distract the user and the driving psychology and the distraction will be very, very high. And sometimes they don't get the message or sometimes they get confused or maybe their mind gets little disturbed. So choosing of the colors is very vital. And blue has been a very predominant choice because of this is a universality. Blue is calm and soothing for most, most of the people. So think about it. This is one universal example I can able to give you. Third, ethically and business responsibility. See, you need to understand this promotes equity and drives a user retention to insane. Different level. Inclusive practices can increase annual revenue up to 28% in your overall product development. Life Cycle Accenture researchers said that. So why it is important Universal design. It expands your market reach. It also makes your product really less complex. And also ethically and business responsibility goes high. Okay, Jagdish, this sounds very fancy. How do I implement it? I'm going to give you seven principles and techniques, guys, okay? You can understand this even it's not five, I would say seven. First of all, think about equitable use of a product. The second, making it flexible in use. The third, simple and intuitive. The fourth, perceptible information. The fifth, tolerance for errors. The sixth, low physical effort. The seventh, size and approach for a different, different use. Okay, These are all the seven principles to keep in mind if you want to really bring the universality into your concept. Let's dive into the first one. Equitable design. See, people has to use it even with their diverse disabilities or anything. Living in any culture, at any point of time, at any age. Can you make it like that? Jagdish, give you an example to understand this. Can you see automatic doors, guys? It is accessible for all the people. Even wheelchair people can able to use it because this automatically goes and retracts back. And they can also have even the width is designed for that door automatically to the wheelchair to go inside. There is something called anthropometry, okay? In anthropometric chart, when an architect is constructing a building, he will take care of this wheelchair dimension. Okay? If this disabled people come into the toilet and bathroom, how much size do I need to keep this door? How much size do I need to keep this wasp in height so that they can able to access the water just by sitting in the wheelchair itself? See, this is called equitable use. I'm just giving you one example. You can get the quick breakthrough, okay? Second, flexibility in use. How it accommodates the individual preference and abilities. Think about it. How can I able to customize it for preference as well as I can able to keep a universal thing for it? Example, keeping a font size which is adjustable on the website or mobile app or even all the mobiles are now having a font size adjustment, right? So that flexibility in use. If you're able to create, then it becomes a universality. So then people who are having a like let's say their visual power is a little less or maybe they're wearing specs, they can also use it and people are having a good eye power. They can also use it. See, you're now covering the universality. Think about it. The third simple and intuitive to use. Is it really easy to understand regardless of the user experience. Regardless of the digital literacy, whatever these people have, regardless of whatever complexity that screen is there. Whether they have used mobile app or not. Is this the first time they're using the mobile app for your product? Are they able to understand it? If the answer is yes, then you have made the really minimal design. Have you seen the Google's minimalist homepage? Every damn people in the earth can use it. Google is the number one search engine in the world. Okay. Because they have kept it so simple, guys. Why it is liked by all. That is the universality. See, design is not subjective. I'll highlight it here. Okay. YouTube is the second most search engine in the world. Have you seen the YouTube search engine? Everybody can go and type out their keywords and start getting the video and watch it. That's it. There is no big deal. There is no big, no brainer. Okay? So think about it. The fourth is perceptible information. Are you communicating effectively to the user? Are you communicating the perceptible information properly to the user? What you want? I'll take an example, guys. Traffic light, auditory symbols. See, even if blind people are crossing in the road, they can able to still get the. They get the voice. Like let's say yellow, green, red. I've seen in European countries it is very common. Sometimes in Indian countries it is missing. But I would say if you go to the metro station in Indian country, you can see the entire metro stopping is Metro station is actually built for blind, dumb deaf people. Even without a support, a blind people can still navigate inside the metro station and get the train and board and go for the other point. How? Because the. The signals, the sound, the tactile experience while they walk in the floor. Everything has been created experience for this is called perceptible information. When you go near the metro station, you can see that one or two feet away there'll be a dots. There will be a little hard texture. Okay. You can see the dots which is in the yellow color. Like it will be 1ft width and that will be across the entire station. Why? Because blind people can walk around it and know that this is the path to walk. They will not be misguided. Right? See, you can't expect every time a person will be there with a blind guy, right? So that tactile experience will help them. Okay. I'm guided in the proper way. Okay. One feet away train is there. So only a small education is needed initially for these people and automatically they get it. Traffic lights universally yellow is like let's say getting Ready? Green is go, red is totally stop, you can't change it. These are all like universal. So think about it. Perceptible information and making it universal is most most important. Fifth, tolerance for error. See guys, I'm just recollecting it. First is equitable use, being a universal designer. Second is flexibility in use. Third is simple and intuitive use. Fourth is perceptible information. Fifth is tolerance for error. Okay, so how are you minimizing the hazards and consequence of mistakes? See, people tend to make mistake. You can't stop it. Are you minimizing it? That's the point here. Are you trying to make it come down like let's say a functionality called Undo, Redo Control Z and Ctrl Y. Even you can't imagine application without Control Z and Control Y. Guys, you will go mad because people make mistakes in Word, Document, in PPT and anything we try to make mistake. But if you are not giving that flexibility for the user, for the tolerance, they will get really, really annoyed and they will not like your product. If you wanted to make your product go to a universality, this is a very, very important fact which you need to get before you, you jump into the design situations. Okay, the sixth is a low physical effort. Always try to create a minimal physical effort to use product. How people can able to use, like let's say even if the kid is using, even if the big guy is using, how they will be able to use it? Think about it, even if the person is not having hands, how will he open the door? We can have something like automated sensor door. When you come near, it will automatically open. See, this is a universality. The universality. And when people still they wanted to push it. Yeah, they can use it. So think about the common way, how we can able to draw a parallel. Like let's say instead of having a round knob, why don't you think about lever knob? Because round knobs are sometimes confusing, whether left side or right side. Or maybe some people has to put conscious efforts to do. But lever is much more easier. According to scientific principle, the law of Fulcrum. The lever mechanism is very easy to operate. A bigger door to move it. See, even the kids can do. Age old people can do low physical effort. Seventh is size and space and approach for use. See, appropriate size and spaces for access and manipulation is very important. Like let's say elevators. Can you design elevators for the people with a strollers, with a wheelchairs, with a disability and all these things? Can you do it? See, size and space is very, very important. Guys, you. You can make it as a universal size. Also across the globe when you go all the elevators are having this size considered. Why? Because of this consciousness building developed over the all designers for the elevators and other places. If you take Coney Elev, take Johnson and Johnson. If you take the some of the big lift companies in the world elevators they have considered this because they know that airport, railway station, every places are filled with people who are normal people who are disabled, people who are different aged people who are kids. So think about it guys. Even that braille information when you see in the elevator it's very common. Even people who are not having the support like let's say they're blind, they can still read the tactile information and know that this elevator is going up or coming down and they can change the path. See how beautiful it is. So these are all the principles guys. See I can keep on telling you a lot of case studies to an example guys but I will say the Google map is a great example. I would say the Apple voiceover, I would say the Netflix subtitles and audio description. Like a lot of people are able to perceivably consume the information here they are having a hearing problem or audio problem or anything they can. Even if they're blind they can able to still listen to the audio and get the information. Okay, so think about it. And also the Google Maps the voice guided information like let's say the Apple voiceover its built in screen readers are excellent feature guys. Alexa I would say the Amazon's feature everybody can able to use hands free experience. Microsoft Teams very simple and intuitive to use. Live captions are available for you even when you take physical products like let's say elevators with the braille and voice announcement I told you about this ergonomic office chair Chair is going to be only ergonomically supporting for your lumbar and neck region guys. You can't have innovation there. It's a. It's a. It's a universality. You can't have an upside down for it. Right? So think about. These are all the universal principles which I've been talking about. But you can really play a creative role out of it and build lot of solutions for it. You can make an inclusive playground like let's say that the playground is used for the children with or without disabilities. You can also create office environment where with or without disabilities people can still come and work and bring their laptops and start discussing and they can make it even more like let's say many people feel Uncomfortable to come to the meeting because they use the wheelchair, right? But can you design office environment where all the other people can come and sit and commonly discuss? Yeah, being a designer it's possible. But the consciousness towards solving this kind of a problem should first grow high in you. If you are really thinking about this angle, then you will be able to create a solutions for it. If you treat it like a alien subject, you won't be able to master it. Guys. Okay. See there are many UI UX examples also I can give you. Like, let's say you can see the slack keyboard like everything is having a simplified navigation and power system. You can see the zoom virtual background. It hides the distraction and environment during the video calls that's make it common for all. Airbnb multilingual interface because that's a international platform. Dropbox simple drag and drop feature how many of you don't know this Dropbox simple drag and drop feature that is getting across all the Google Drive and other places? Guys. Because Dropbox has really simplified it and made it easy use for everything. It's like putting out a cloth into a basket, right? Drag and drop. A simple YouTube user interface, LinkedIn navigation. So examples are locked. Now let me give you the analogy for it. Okay, first of all, let us understand if you are able to think universal design, it activates the people's reward center, improves the satisfaction. 90% of the users prefer intuitive and accessible product. Guys, US UX matter says this, okay? Think about it. Second, it reduces the cognitive load. Simple designs lowers the mental effort, increasing focus and retention. Companies with an inclusive design are 2x more likely to be seen as an innovative Accenture research says that it's a positive brand perception, right? See, these things are not only impacting your design, it's also impacting the user and the psychology and the long term benefit of your brand. It improves your engagement and retention, reduces the cognitive load and builds a positive brand perception. See guys, I'll give you an activity. Take one screen. Take one example. Physical product, traditional product or anything. Try to identify the gap in that particular product, like let's say the accessibility gap or anything. And try to apply these universal principles. Whatever. I told you, I told you about the seven universal principles, right? The first principle being like let's say equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information tolerance and error, low physical effort, size and space. For the approach to use, take any one or two principles and try to redesign that with a solution. And once if you're able to apply this Universal design principle to enhance usability. Then try to simulate using the tools like let's say you can use a Figma or even a Miro to just try to create the solution for it and use with the people who wanted to really test it out. Try to understand how people are using it and feeling very comfortable or discomfort for your products. Once it is done, then try to create a audit for it. Then collecting the data, then document it, then make a case study out of it automatically that will become a great project in your work. Guys, the simple I'm giving you the small activity for you. Take one gap in a product like let's say physical or digital. Whatever you feel. Jagdish I feel this application is not really good for like let's say people who are having disability with respect to visual okay. Like let's say WhatsApp. WhatsApp can be used for people who are blind. Try to take out one gap and try to redesign that and try to create one solution and then go and check it out with the real time user. Then document the findings then improve your product automatically. You will be just take one small feature guys. Don't take many complications, okay? How people can able to send images in the WhatsApp okay, being a blind, you can use a screen reader feature, you can use a voice activated feature, you can integrate your voice search feature with the WhatsApp integration and then you can show that solution. If people can able to send a voice note saying hey hi. Send a small good morning message with the Google image saying good morning with flowers and send it to my broadcast group and that voice will automatically go and take the image from the Google and automatically send to WhatsApp to that particular broadcast group whatever your name. See even blind people can use it, right? So I'm just giving you a very vague small example but you can can really know what are the practicality around it and you can able to bring a solution out of it once. If you're able to do it guys automatically you will be getting a far more examples of it. If you're using chat GPT for this project to start on, use this prompts guys okay make a note of it. Understanding universal design principle Explain how universal design principle can improve a website usability. For the example whatever I've chosen, you can put your own case study automatically. ChatGPT will give you an example and you can use one more prompt suggest accessibility improvements for a e commerce app. Whatever I've created. Like let's say put your problem statement and use this small prompt in chat GPT automatically you will be getting some answers. See even if you're completely stuck or numb, you can try this activity guys. And you can try another thing. How I can test a product's complaint with use universal design standards automatically Charge will give you some information see if you're completely brand new and stuck. I would highly recommend you to try this chat GPT methods. Okay? Because listening to this podcast is not going to change you anything, only taking action, making mistakes. It's going to change you once. If you're completing these activities, just send an email to connect designforchange.com I'll be more than happy to share one super and amazing gift with you guys. Okay? And I would also recommend you to come and join our webinar which is going to happen on the coming Sunday at 10am you can find the link below and you can come and take how this entire design principles and concepts and inclusivity and other things what we talked about is going to connect you as a final dots to become a great designer earning six figure income. I'm going to give you the six step formula and break down how you can able to level up your game if you're already a designer. How you can able to 3x your paycheck using the simple 6 step formula. Come and attend the webinar and it will be a great game changer for you. Okay? Some of the big designers in the country, some of the designers who are having no degrees and all are becoming successful because of the six step formula through our program. Okay? I would highly highly recommend you to come and join the webinar so that you are also getting benefited out of it. 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