From Standards to Innovation: Why Inclusive Design Wins
Summary
What if your next big innovation is waiting at the edges of your service? Many of the world’s most transformative ideas- From the modern internet, to the billion dollar audiobook market emerged when designers looked beyond the “average” to solve real challenges for people often left out of traditional design thinking. By addressing these edge cases, they created solutions that were more flexible, adaptive and usable for everyone. In this session, you’ll learn: - Why inclusivity unlocks innovation in products and services - The hidden ROI of inclusive design - How to avoid the costly risks of designing only for the averages - How to champion inclusive practices that make your services more resilient and future ready.
Key Insights
-
•
One in four people in the US have a disability, representing a large and often overlooked market segment.
-
•
Disability exists on a spectrum including temporary and situational disabilities, not as a binary condition.
-
•
Designing for the 'average' user results in products that fit no one well, as shown by the US Air Force cockpit example.
-
•
Inclusive design that starts from the edges unlocks innovation benefiting all users.
-
•
Many innovations, such as the typewriter and audiobooks, were originally developed to meet accessibility needs.
-
•
Inclusive tools and processes reduce the need for costly accommodations and extra employee support.
-
•
Service designers are uniquely positioned to lead accessibility initiatives because of their role in creating workflows and managing change.
-
•
Training AI on existing data risks perpetuating past biases and limits innovation unless inclusive design data is used.
-
•
Legal compliance is easier and more effective when accessibility is integrated throughout design, not treated as an afterthought.
-
•
Effective inclusive design requires aligning cross-functional teams via accessible tooling and shared communication practices.
Notable Quotes
"If we design for the edges, we get the middle for free."
"Designing for the average means designing for nobody."
"Disability is less about a person and more about a person’s interaction with the environment and processes."
"An inaccessible tool costs more than just the person with accessibility needs; it costs their friends and family too."
"You cannot design for the middle; instead, you must create experiences that are customizable and adaptable."
"If we make creating inclusive experiences our goal, legal compliance will naturally follow."
"Many new ways of doing things today were originally invented to enable people with disabilities."
"Service designers are best placed to make inclusive design the default, not the exception."
"When we train AI on what we have done in the past, we will just do the same more efficiently, not better."
"If accessibility is buried three levels deep in a checklist, it’s going to get missed."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"At DTA, distributed teams and lack of local diversity meant everyone was out in the field a lot to get diverse input."
Leisa ReicheltOpening Keynote: Operating in Context
November 7, 2018
"Designers use deception all the time, but the moral dividing line between acceptable and harmful deception is fuzzy."
Cennydd BowlesExit Interview #2: Rediscovering the ethical heart of design
November 6, 2025
"My playlist changed drastically when my son was born, but data alone wouldn’t explain why."
Andrew MichaelBuilding a Product Insights Team
March 10, 2022
"When I started at Zendesk in 2018, there was a single UX researcher in Singapore doing her best to serve 28 product designers around the globe."
Veevi RosensteinBuilding for Scale: Creating the Zendesk UX Research Practice
January 8, 2024
"If seeing a diverse participant pool is important to you, it's your responsibility to make sure your recruiters use it as a priority."
Megan CamposWhat Did I Miss? The Hidden Costs of Deprioritizing Diversity in User Research
March 12, 2021
"We realized designing for AI is very different from other computational mediums we used before."
Aras BilgenWho does the math: A designer’s journey in building an AI-based tutoring app
June 10, 2025
"Friction can be good, especially when protecting private information."
Ron BronsonDesign, Consequences & Everyday Life
November 18, 2022
"Lots of people have agents running, but they don't feel they’re really useful yet."
Tina WeisserWhen AI Agents Meet Reality. Service Design Lessons from a Pilot
February 26, 2026
"Taking stakeholders on the journey by involving them in interviews really changed how they saw the product and business strategy."
Dr Chloe SharpUsing Evidence and Collaboration for Setting and Defending Priorities
November 29, 2023
