From Empathy to Inclusive Design: Multisensory Solutions for (Not Only) Socially Sustainable Projects

Abstract

Solutions designed for specific niches have over time become integrated into common use, while others have remained the sole purview of small groups, defining and stigmatizing them. Through an analysis of the process that has made many technological solutions created for the disabled into common use for the majority, it is possible to understand when and how designers should intervene in creating their projects to guarantee the accessibility and usability of the resulting artefacts. There are ways to ‘empathize’ and consider users based on their general abilities and technological skills, so as to broaden the meaning and the sphere of accessibility. Deepening users’ needs and ways of interacting, shaping ‘personas’ according to their abilities and not just difficulties, can help design more inclusively. This approach makes possible not only the scalability and inclusiveness of the end result but also of the design tools, focusing on specific needs without being exclusionary.