EDTECH 506: Week 2 - Universal Design

Universal design can be defined as “creating environments accessible to as many people as possible” (Lohr, 2008).  This includes overcoming language skills, user experience and knowledge, making the instruction widely applicable to any user who may be using the design.

When looking for a business application of universal design I thought of IKEA assembly instructions for their products.  IKEA sells their products in 40 countries around the world and employs the same instructional design technique in all of their assembly instructions.  The assembly instructions employ universal design principles so regardless of whether their consumers live in Norway or Japan they can use the same set of instructions to assemble their products. 

Each set of instructions uses images of the individual components of the product and the tools required for assembly.  These provide the visual cues for end users.  At the introduction of the instructions it visually displays all the parts included in the product to provide familiarity with the parts used.  The assembly instructions then take the user through the progressive steps to assemble the product correctly by showing the image of the part and using arrows to show where they need to connect.  It also indicates visually through the use of arrows when parts need to be screwed into other parts and when certain tools need to be used.  At times when the connections are quite specific, the instruction highlights and shows in greater detail the connection point for the end user.  There is no text included other than referencing product numbers and steps in the assembly.

These instructions overcome language barriers and do not require end users to have any prior experience of assembly of their products.  All assembly instructions are available to be downloaded from their website.

The design of these instructions applies to some of the universal design principles outlined by the Center for Universal Design (CUD) at North Carolina State University.

1. Equitable use:  Assembly instructions can be accessed easily on their website and are not language specific
2. Simple and intuitive:  Through the use of graphics and images the assembly instructions are clear so any end user will be able to understand and follow the instructions.
3. Perceptible information:  The instruction highlights some areas where closer attention may be required in joining specific parts.
4. Low physical effort:  Instructions are provided on large sized paper enabling end users to easily use the images of components.

References:

Bohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Universal Design: Process, Principles and Applications: http://www.washington.edu/doit/universal-design-process-principles-and-applications

IKEA. (n.d) In Wikipedia.  Retrieved September 3, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_IKEA_stores