Focus on the user

The persona Spectrum. Inclusive design toolkit. © Microsoft e The user in focus

The guide introduces the Universal Design equation, where X is the unknown, the extra required to achieve an inclusive solution. This applies to considerations about anything from the physical and social context to the understanding of safety and respect.

All the X’s can be adjusted so they have more or less impact on the design of a building, a bridge, or a (urban) space, in order to make it as accessible as possible, for as many people as possible.

X1, user involvement, always has frst priority for the architect and designer, as in ordinary design thinking and practice, because from experience we know we achieve the most inclusive and most attractive building or infrastructure project when all users and all user considerations are brought into play. The upper X's/parameters are mutually connected and they all relate to the user analysis, or in other words: Universal Design examines the interaction between the users and the built environment - indoors and outdoors and in any scale - both the needs in a given built environment, and how these needs can be met and stimulated.