3 things to consider when designing for human differences
There’s no such thing as “the average user” or “the norm”. In fact, there never was. Everybody has diverse needs, expectations and responses.
Interestingly, the US Air Force found out just how flawed designing for the average user can be. In the 1950s, researchers measured over 4,000 pilots on 140 dimensions of size, in the hopes that average measurements would lead to better aircraft cockpits and help to prevent crashes. One researcher, however, had doubts. Lt. Gilbert S. Daniels found that not a single Air Force pilot fit into the average range on all dimensions.
As the architects of digital experiences used by millions of people, we as researchers and designers need to ensure that we take these unique viewpoints into account. We have a responsibility to our users, and while there’s no code for us to follow, it’s important that we’re all following a north star of “doing good and putting people first”. With World Information Architecture Day (WIAD) just around the corner, we thought we’d take the theme of this year’s event — design for difference — and take a look at what it really means to take differences into account through design.
After all, as Elise Roy noted in her keynote at the 2018 IA Summit in Chicago, “Different is the new normal we should be designing for.”
Understanding accessibility — and usability
There’s an interesting distinction to be made between accessibility and usability, 2 terms which are all-too-commonly mixed up or misconstrued. Accessibility is essentially the practice of ensuring your product is as usable by as wide a group as possible, whereas usability is more focused on goal or task effectiveness. The thing is, one can’t exist without the other. Researchers are focussed so much on usability, but if what they’ve actually designed isn’t even accessible, then there’s no point in even considering usability.
Let’s look at a practical example in the user interface of an internet banking service:
- Accessibility — The interface should be navigable by any user, regardless of technology familiarity or disability, for example, someone with color blindness or physical impairment.
- Usability — The interface should be easily understandable so that a new user will have no trouble completing common tasks (like making a payment).
It’s important to remember that there’s no such thing as perfect accessibility or usability, especially given that these terms can be interpreted in many ways. Instead, they should be practices that are firmly embedded in the design process of any project.
