Mismatch - How Inclusion Shapes Design

How inclusive methods can build elegant design solutions that work for all.Sometimes designed objects reject their users: a computer mouse that doesn't work for left-handed people, for example, or a touchscreen payment system that only works for people who read English phrases, have 20/20 vision, and use a credit card. Something as simple as color choices can render a product unusable for millions. These mismatches are the building blocks of exclusion. In Mismatch, Kat Holmes describes how design can lead to exclusion, and how design can also remedy exclusion. Inclusive design methods—designing objects with rather than for excluded users—can create elegant solutions that work well and benefit all.
Holmes tells stories of pioneers of inclusive design, many of whom were drawn to work on inclusion because of their own experiences of exclusion. A gamer and designer who depends on voice recognition shows Holmes his "Wall of Exclusion,” which displays dozens of game controllers that require two hands to operate; an architect shares her firsthand knowledge of how design can fail communities, gleaned from growing up in Detroit's housing projects; an astronomer who began to lose her eyesight adapts a technique called "sonification” so she can "listen” to the stars.
Designing for inclusion is not a feel-good sideline. Holmes shows how inclusion can be a source of innovation and growth, especially for digital technologies. It can be a catalyst for creativity and a boost for the bottom line as a customer base expands. And each time we remedy a mismatched interaction, we create an opportunity for more people to contribute to society in meaningful ways.

List of contents

Foreword
CH 1Welcome
CH 2Shut In, Shut Out
CH 3The Cycle of Exclusion
CH 4Inclusive Designers
CH 5With and For
CH 6Matchmaking
CH 7There's No Such Thing as Normal
CH 8Love Stories
CH 9Inclusion is Designing the Future
Notes
Suggested Readings
Acknowledgements
Index

About the author

Kat Holmes, named one of Fast Company's “Most Creative People in Business” in 2017, is founder of Mismatch.design, a firm with the mission of advancing inclusive education and resources. She served as the Principal Director of Inclusive Design at Microsoft from 2014 to 2017, and led that company's executive program for inclusive product innovation. As an executive at Google and, currently, Salesforce, Holmes continues to advance inclusive development for some of the most influential technologies in the world. 

An internationally recognized leader at the intersection of design and technology, John Maeda is Executive Vice President/Chief Experience Officer at Publicis Sapient. He was the 16th President of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He is the author of Design by Numbers, The Laws of Simplicity, and Redesigning Leadership, all published by The MIT Press.

Summary

How inclusive methods can build elegant design solutions that work for all.Sometimes designed objects reject their users: a computer mouse that doesn't work for left-handed people, for example, or a touchscreen payment system that only works for people who read English phrases, have 20/20 vision, and use a credit card. Something as simple as color choices can render a product unusable for millions. These mismatches are the building blocks of exclusion. In Mismatch, Kat Holmes describes how design can lead to exclusion, and how design can also remedy exclusion. Inclusive design methods—designing objects with rather than for excluded users—can create elegant solutions that work well and benefit all.
Holmes tells stories of pioneers of inclusive design, many of whom were drawn to work on inclusion because of their own experiences of exclusion. A gamer and designer who depends on voice recognition shows Holmes his “Wall of Exclusion,” which displays dozens of game controllers that require two hands to operate; an architect shares her firsthand knowledge of how design can fail communities, gleaned from growing up in Detroit's housing projects; an astronomer who began to lose her eyesight adapts a technique called “sonification” so she can “listen” to the stars.
Designing for inclusion is not a feel-good sideline. Holmes shows how inclusion can be a source of innovation and growth, especially for digital technologies. It can be a catalyst for creativity and a boost for the bottom line as a customer base expands. And each time we remedy a mismatched interaction, we create an opportunity for more people to contribute to society in meaningful ways.

Additional text

Mismatch is a powerful read that not only has the potential to change the way we approach design but also serves as a strong check to our ingrained assumptions about how and why people move, act, speak, and interact (or dont).—Gray Magazine—
Designing for inclusion is not a feel-good sideline. Holmes shows how inclusion can be a source of innovation and growth, especially for digital technologies. It can be a catalyst for creativity and a boost for the bottom line as a customer base expands. And each time we remedy a mismatched interaction, we create an opportunity for more people to contribute to society in meaningful ways.
—800-CEO-READ—
One-of-a-kind...Take[s] inclusive design out of an academic setting and into the working world. Nobody really wants to exclude people from their designs and this book shows you how you can avoid doing that.
—Fast Company—
[Does] a very good job of tearing down the blinders we wear and helping to expose designers to the impact of what we create....with a practicality that is refreshing and encouraging.
—Tim Kadlec—

Product details

• Authors: Kat Holmes, Kat/ Maeda Holmes, John Maeda
• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.09.2020
• EAN: 9780262539487
• ISBN: 978-0-262-53948-7
• No. of pages: 184
• Series: Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art; Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Technology; Social sciences, law, business; DESIGN / General, TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING / Social Aspects, Technology: general issues