Innovative Inclusive Design by Emotional Design

First question: What makes inclusive design truly inclusive? Most inclusive design products are far from being appealing to their intended customers. This is mainly because designers are typically concerned with enhancing the usability, and not the emotional value that creates the connection between the product and the users. Typical solutions are larger displays and larger buttons, and these solutions often make the product less tasteful, graceful, and favorable. As a result, such products become less inclusive, veering from the original intention of the designers. Emotional design is not about making fun products, but about enjoyable products. Positive emotional design increases the affection value in products that enable users to create emotional connection with products. With the emotional connection, the user can engage in learning about the product as well as enjoy using the product. This can also resolve most usability issues by increasing the attention level and decreasing boredom. When more people feel that a product is enjoyable, it becomes more inclusive. Second question: Can’t inclusive design have innovative value? Most inclusive design products are far from being innovative, and thus, they cannot create market opportunities. While emotional design approach increases value for users, innovative design approach creates value for the businesses. This will eventually promote development of inclusive products. This paper discusses the benefits of emotional design approach in inclusive design. It also argues how emotional design can help make inclusive design more innovative. Accompanied exemplar design process illustrates how emotional design contributes to inclusive design and how it leads to innovative products.