A design revolution hits Norway

Using inclusive design as a tool for innovation paves the way for completely new opportunities and can open up markets, is the opinion of Onny Eikhaug from The Norwegian Design Council. Here together with Jeremy Meyerson from The Helen Hamlyn Centre. Photo: The Norwegian Design Council

Download high resolution image

Oslo: The world’s design elite were gathered in Oslo for the very first conference on inclusive design and innovation to be held in Norway.

Nearly 150 people from Norway and abroad attended the “Innovation through Inclusive Design” conference to hear 11 speakers, all leading experts in inclusive design thinking. The conference was arranged by the Norwegian Design Council on 5 and 6 May at DogA, the Design and Architecture Centre in Oslo.

“These people are the crème de la crème of the design world. They have been pioneers of inclusive design for a number of years, and we are very proud that we have been able to entice all of them to Norway,” says Onny Eikhaug, Programme Leader, Design for All. The Norwegian Design Council has been involved in inclusive design for several years, and she is pleased that this subject is gaining increasing focus in Norway.

Designers in the danger zone
The first day included lectures by Akihiro Nagaya, Design Manager at Toyota, and by Jeremy Myerson, Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre at the Royal College of Art in London. Professor Myerson outlined the challenges facing western designers under the move towards globalisation.

“The design and innovation process is often divided into three stages: Understanding needs, designing a solution and implementing this solution. We see that an increasing number of design and production tasks are outsourced to low-cost, large-scale manufacturing environments in China, India and other Asian countries. This is a challenge that western designers must meet if they are not to be outcompeted,” Mr Myerson explains.

The solution lies in concentrating on the first – and most important – stage in commissioning design, namely gaining insight. Understanding the needs of western consumers is something that still has to be done locally and nationally, and inclusive design is a key tool with which to achieve this broad-based understanding of the customer.

Red ocean – blue ocean
“By rejecting all traditional notions of who the customer is and what he or she wants, it is possible to identify market opportunities one didn’t even know existed,” said Jeremy Myerson.

He divides the market into two classes, red oceans and blue oceans. Red oceans are full of similar products, with aggressive price sharks fighting to be the first to seize on sceptical customers. Blue oceans, on the other hand, are virtually devoid of competition and price-hunting, and customers queue to have needs met that they cannot find satisfaction for elsewhere.

 Myerson cited several examples, including the BT Big Button Phone. Originally, this product was developed for individuals with impaired vision and people with reduced motor skills, but the manufacturer soon discovered that the large keys were just as popular among other customer groups. Today the telephone is one of the bestselling phones in the UK, and so far no one has complained that the keys are too big.

Nothing is average
“Traditionally, all products and services have been designed to be used by the man in the street, i.e. the average consumer. It has taken many decades to realise that most people are just not average. They are taller or shorter than average, they are older or younger than average, and they are left-handed,” Myerson jokes. “For this reason, it is not surprising that a mere 13 per cent of the population in the United States say they find technological products easy to use!

The celebrated professor also seized the opportunity to praise Stokke, the Norwegian furniture manufacturer, pointing out that the “Balance” chair is a classic example of how to convert a special product, in this case a chair for people with bad backs, into a product that everyone can use and enjoy.

New legislation on the cards
Draft Norwegian legislation proposes, among other things, that all new buildings and means of transport must be designed so that they can be used by everyone. In the opinion of Onny Eikhaug at the Norwegian Design Council, all solutions should be designed for diversity, and she points out that inclusive design does not necessarily have to do with rights and demands.

“For manufacturers and suppliers, it is essentially about strengthening one’s competitive edge by offering innovative and user-friendly products. It has to do with understanding that what is important to some people is actually good for everyone! No mobile phone is too easy to understand, regardless of whether you are 20 or 80. No car door is too easy to open, no matter whether you suffer from rheumatism or not,” she points out.

May provide too much of an advantage
In Eikhaug’s opinion, using inclusive design as a tool for innovation paves the way for completely new opportunities and can open up markets. In order to get this far, however, we must first rid ourselves of our technology-driven way of thinking. Technology is supposed to be adapted to fit human beings, not the other way round.

Eikhaug says that inclusive design is still not used to any great extent in a large part of the world, and that Norwegian companies therefore have a golden opportunity to gain a headstart by investing in user-focused design development.

“In competition with companies from low-cost countries such as China, Norwegian and European enterprises need all the help they can get. Companies that produce innovative products that can be used by many different customer groups will be less vulnerable. Another benefit is that user-driven innovation often costs less than technology-driven innovation, because the investment required is lower,” Onny Eikhaug concludes.

This article was written by Pressenytt for the Norwegian Design Council.
Editorial responsibility for the content of this article lies with Pressenytt.