User Centred Design

‘The central premise of user centered design is that the best designed products and services result from understanding the needs of the people who will use them.’  -  Design Council

Design for disability
Michael Boulay’s easy-to-grip fork, designed for hemiplegics (a person who is paralyzed on one side of the body).

It can be used as a learning aid (Braille bracelet)

It is also used for Medical design

Inclusive design means that it is a better design and is not a stage that can be added.

Environmental Design

When designing a product, designers are concerned with minimizing waste, to reduce consumption of energy and materials and to maintain a sustainable level.

Pioneered by Richard Buckminster Fuller in 1920’s design science based on the concept of ‘providing the most with the least’.

The Montreal Biosphère by Buckminster Fuller, 1967.

Another example is the Dymaxion car designed by Buckminster Fuller in the early 1930’s.

By the 80’s environmentalists warned of the effects of industrialization on global warming.

Environmental / Green Design

Environmental design takes into consideration the product’s whole life cycle such as the extraction of raw materials and their carbon footprint, the ecological impact of their processing, the energy consumed in the manufacturing process, any negative by-product, the energy required for and the impact of the distribution system, the length of the product’s service life., component recovery, the product’s efficiency, it’s recyclability and the ultimate effects of disposal on the environment such as landfill and incineration. 

Recycling

Tejo Remy’s rag chair

Other examples of green design are:

Organic baby clothes

 

Organic and wooden toys

Stainless steel water bottles

 

Bamboo kitchenware and furniture

Recycling can reduce waste but not necessarily minimize it. Increased product durability on the other hand minimizes waste and energy consumption. Doubling the product life can minimize the environmental impact by half.