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Universal design is a term coined more than 20 years ago by the late Ron Mace, an architect and designer with a disability. This term describes a way of designing all things for human use—including buildings, interiors, products and packages—that makes them as usable and useful as possible for people of all ages and abilities. Mace helped establish the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and in 1997 wrote the seven Principles of Universal Design, which form the basis for much of the research and design that focus on this concept. Since 1994, the center has conducted a project funded by the U.S. Department of Education titled “Case Studies on .Universal Design.” The study examined 52 companies—among them Herman Miller, Ikea, Fiskars, Nokia, Oxo International, Steelcase, Toys R Us, Whirl.pool and Tupperware—that have taken steps to address the needs of their older customers and those with disabilities. Of these examples, the center has developed a selection into brief case studies and published them. (See information at the end of this article.) One of these case studies was fully developed into a business-teaching course in 1997 through Design Management Institute and Harvard Business School, and is distributed by Harvard Business Publishing. WHY BUSINESSES CARE Advocates of universal design sometimes seem like religious zealots, promoting the concept on faith because it is “the right thing to do.” Without evidence that it is also good business, the unconverted can find it easy to dismiss such claims. The case-study project was intended to take a hard look at how universal design can be a successful business strategy—that is, how universal design can make money for a company that applies the concept. The goal of this project was to make believers of new industries and businesses and encourage them to adopt universal design into their business practices. As the lifespan of customers continues to increase, businesses are becoming increasingly sensitive toward aging .consumers (fueled by the boomers, who get ever closer to becoming elders each year). In addition, legislation has included requirements that electronic and telecommunications products and services be made usable for people with disabilities. All the while, media coverage of famous actors and athletes as they age has helped stimulate U.S. business toward greater interest in universal design.
The likelihood of experiencing a disability during one’s lifetime increases with age: 70% of all people with disabilities are not born with them, but develop them during the course of their lives. Medical progress has had a profound effect on the treatment of illness and accidents, which until a short time ago were often fatal. More than 3 million Americans each year survive severe auto accidents, sports injuries, strokes and heart attacks. From 1970 to 1997, the survival rate from strokes more than doubled and the survival rate from traumatic brain injury improved from 10% to 90%. PIONEERS AND OPPORTUNITIES Several organizations in the study that were pioneers in universal design, some with experience dating back 20 years or more, noted the advantages of being first in the field. Early, modest efforts yielded comparatively large amounts of media coverage, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. For example, Sam Farber established Oxo International in 1990 with the introduction of Good Grips, whose distinctive, inviting designs drew considerable press coverage. With nearly no advertising budget, Oxo International grew at a 40%–50% annual rate from 1990–1995, to $20 million. Subsequent “me-too” efforts by competitors were much less newsworthy. Another pioneer, Philips’ Interactive Healthcare Services was among the first companies to employ telecommunications technology for remote monitoring of patients’ vital signs. Using portable, battery-operated measurement units, which operate automatically or with a single push of a button, patients take their vital signs daily. The portable units automatically transmit the data and the time by radio frequency to the home telecommunications hub. The hub then transmits the data, using ordinary phone lines, to a comprehensive patient database accessible to the healthcare provider. Government and business incentives are important, but the Center for Universal Design found that the strategic business decision to adopt universal design was as often based on a personal experience by someone with management power as on more objective data, such as potential additional sales. In nearly every case study, the personal experiences of a company employee, a family member of an employee, or an executive stimulated by a media story about an individual with a disability created an emotional commitment that fueled the organization’s investment in universal design. This powerful emotional commitment also provided the additional energy needed to maintain the momentum of the idea in the face of corporate inertia. For example, the idea for Oxo International’s now-famous Good Grips was born when Sam Farber’s wife, Betsey, began to have difficulty using kitchen utensils due to arthritis. Also, when Morison Cousins undertook the redesign of Tupperware’s products in 1990, he kept in mind his 87-year-old mother. HELPING THE CONVERTED Of course, spending money on universal design or risking one’s business reputation on it without a clear return on investment requires a deep-rooted sense of the importance of this design approach. Business managers are people: When they have an experience that sensitizes them to elders and people with disabilities, they look for ways to integrate it into their business. In this business environment, the case studies may be most useful as resources for those already converted to universal design, rather than as incentives for making new converts. In short, business managers don’t adopt universal design—it adopts them. With the exception of the unequivocal market success of Oxo Good Grips, the evidence that universal design makes money is largely circumstantial. Not that universal design doesn’t pay off—it’s just that the process of design, development and marketing of products is too complex to attribute market results to a single aspect of the process. Though this project has not yielded a magic equation for justifying universal design in every business, it has demonstrated that business managers are willing and able to invest in what matters to them personally, not merely what is likely to affect the bottom line. As we all age, universal design will gather momentum and touch each and every one of us who lives long enough. The earlier and more proactively we can prepare, the more enjoyable our lives, and the lives of those close to us, will be. The 65-page publication “Case Studies on Universal Design” (Raleigh, N.C.: North Carolina State University, 1997) includes 14 case studies. Eight more recent studies are available, along with follow-up examinations of three previous cases, on the Center for Universal Design website. These additional studies will be published later this year. James L. Mueller, president, J. L. Mueller Inc., is an industrial designer who has worked in the field of design for people with disabilities since 1974. He chairs the Special Interest Section on Universal Design of the Industrial Designers Society of America. This article is based on his presentation last December at the International Conference on Aging, Disability and Independence, hosted by the American Society on Aging.
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