By Francesc Aragall, Barcelona. President of EIDD and Technical Director of CRID

The sheer speed at which changes take place nowadays makes sensitivity and the ability to react two crucial attitudes to ensuring a successful future.

The globalisation of markets, the ageing of the population in developed countries and the increasing respect for the diversity of consumers and their needs are significantly relevant to the growth targets of private enterprise and individuals’ desire to improve the quality of their lives and bring about a more just and equal society.

One way of contributing to achieving these aims that is spreading rapidly among both the public and the private sectors is enshrined in the concept of Design for All.

We define Design for All as intervention in environments, products and services with the aim that everybody, including future generations, and without regard to age, capabilities or cultural origin, can enjoy participating in our societies.

To achieve this broad goal, we must follow two basic principles:

• Facilitate the use of products and services
• Ensure that users take part in the product design and evaluation processes.

The idea is simple: to encourage the users to contribute to making products and services usable by everybody. The purpose it serves is clear: to meet the needs of consumers who have often experienced difficulty in using products, by meeting the needs of companies who want to expand their potential market.

Every sector of society has a role to develop with regard to Design for All:

• Companies must evolve their design processes and market analyses, the better to meet consumers’ needs and preferences.
• Administrations must guarantee that no citizen is excluded by social evolution and market trends. This is especially relevant in relation to new technologies.
• Professionals must become more aware and undergo retraining to include the criteria of Design for All and user participation in their professional practice.

The European Institute for Design and Disability, EIDD, the European network of professionals whose main objective is to enhance the quality of life through Design for All, has been working since 1993 on developing the underlying theoretical foundations and spreading the message in the relevant sectors.

I am convinced that Design for All is one of the pillars that will support a better society in future: an objective that we shall achieve by pooling everyone’s daily work, an achievement whose benefit we shall all share.

Published in Crisp&Clear No. 1, April 2000