ideas
robots faces, female and male, back of head reveals internal parts.

What Gender is AI?

Close your eyes. Imagine: you’re 30 years in the future, and you’re visiting the doctor’s office. The receptionist is a helpful robot that asks you the reason for your visit, cross-references your symptoms with your medical history, prepares a brief for your doctor, and verifies your insurance information and payment- all behind the scenes, while chatting with you about how you’re feeling and even simultaneously entertaining your young kids on another screen with a game teaching them about nutrition!

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ideas
woman has curing a slice of meet from a cooked turkey..

5 Thanksgiving traditions we love for an inclusive 2018

We like the spirit of Thanksgiving- whatever its origins, whatever you may think of the modern craziness around it, the concept of gathering peacefully with loved ones- your birth family, your chosen family, your inner circle, or even a couple of feline or canine pals- and reflecting on the things you have to be grateful for is something we can get behind.

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ideas
Laptop mock-up with layers of information floating outside the screen.

An Introduction to WCAG

If you haven’t heard of WCAG, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, we’re really glad you’re here- as someone who is (we assume) interested in inclusive design, you should know that WCAG is an essential modern standard in making Web content more accessible for a wide variety of users- people with disabilities, people with limited devices or Internet connection, and others.

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ideas
Middle age man smiling, sitting in a wheelchair, interacting with his workmates.

The Seven Principles of Universal Design, Part 3

Welcome back to our last chapter in our exploration of the original Seven Principles of Universal Design! First developed by Robert Mace, himself a person with a disability, in 1997 at NCSU, the Seven Principles have formed the basis for much of modern theories of inclusive design. You can check out the first part here, and the second part here.

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ideas
A long ramp with natural illumination from above. Designed as a fundamental part of the architectural design.

10 Learnings From 10 Interviews About Inclusive Design Part 3

On a policy level, activism that advances awareness or requires implementation of inclusive principles will naturally find its way into the marketplace- advocating for expanded access to technology or requiring new standards accommodation for persons with disabilities will result in an increased demand for products and services that meet these needs, spurring innovation.

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ideas
Man holding a phone and listening in the voice side.

10 Learnings From 10 Interviews About Inclusive Design, Part 2

From policy makers to programmers, they shared their experiences, passion, and insight on the future of inclusive design- where we need to go, and where the technology and culture of design are already taking us. As we looked back on these ten interviews, we noticed that certain issues and ideas came up time and time again, and when we distilled them all through the lens of our subjects, we found some important truths worth sharing.

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ideas
table set, the dish is customized with a cut in the border.

10 Learnings From 10 Interviews About Inclusive Design, Part 1

As we prepare for our next 10 (and beyond!) interviews as the IQ Interviews become Project Inclusion, we wanted to take the time to reflect on the most important learnings from these guests. As we reviewed these interviews, we observed important common threads, and valuable concepts repeated in various ways again and again- essentials to understanding and implementing inclusion. We’d like to share them with you.

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case study
Ilustration of two man and one woman standing.

Chronwell Inclusive Design & Worker’s Comp

A recent Studio Analogous project speaks directly to how inclusive design principles can be applied to nearly every consumer experience- and how many aspects of even a very basic user experience can be improved by thinking inclusively. I hope that examples like this and much of our other work at Studio Analogous can offer other designers, businesses, and product managers some insight into how inclusive principles can be relevant in almost every domain.

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ideas
Couple sitting, the male sporting virtual reality googles.

The Seven Principles of Universal Design, Part 2

My mother is terrified of smartphones. She resisted buying one as long as she possibly could, until the day she went into the store to renew her plan and was told that the “dumb” phone she had clung to “isn’t made anymore, and this plan doesn’t include any devices that aren’t smartphones anymore.” She was not happy.

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