Designing for those who are often not considered
Sanjana Navar
Empathy is an emotion that many learn through experience. Designers often have to be empathetic, especially when designing experiences for others. My thesis is a book and app experience that aims to build empathy for people with disabilities and their difficulty with digital products through learning and designing solutions for different inaccessible experiences. The book utilises AR images to allow the reader to experience what individuals with different disabilities see, feel, and think. By scanning QR codes in the book, the user enters the app to create solutions to the problem spaces discussed.
Those with disabilities experience a lack of empathy through our everyday designs. Whether it may be the inability to buy jewellery for a spouse on Valentine's Day because the contrast between text and background on the website is too low, or being unable to watch videos with friends at gatherings because there are no captions; all these pose limitations to the overall quality of life for many individuals.
Many of these problems come from those involved in the product creation process not being knowledgeable, empathetic and understanding of individuals with different abilities. It is not necessarily because of ignorance, but lack of awareness. How can designers develop empathy and understanding for those with disabilities while simultaneously learning how to design accessible digital experiences?
This project hopes to contribute to the accessibility conversation by having more people “doing” than just “talking” and encourage conversations around the experience of those with disabilities in an increasingly digital world.