Well-known companies such as Procter & Gamble, Lego and Nike are introducing inclusive design. But if the release is exclusive, does inclusive design matter?
The skin care giant Olay recently released a face cream cap that is ostensibly designed as "anyone can use", which is the latest consumer product positioned to serve the disabled.
Olay announced that its limited-edition lid prototype was "developed by consumers with a wide range of conditions, from dexterity problems and limb differences, to chronic problems that cause joint pain and visual impairment," hype. To promote the new packaging, it launched an advertising campaign including videos and luxurious multi-page ads in the Sunday print edition of the New York Times
The easy-to-open lid includes four functions: a winged lid, an extra grip raised lid, a high-contrast product label, and "face cream" braille text. It is designed to fit the four creams in Olay's popular Regenerist series and is only available on Olay's website, not on store shelves.
After careful observation, it is clear that this release is more of a public relations strategy, rather than a real effort to make more accessible products-and Olay is far from the only brand taking this path. Inclusive design is not usually considered a normal marketing activity. It is difficult to find a product created through an inclusive design process that surpasses its hype and succeeds.
Olay easy-to-open braille lid
The world's largest companies are increasingly introducing adaptations of existing products and new flexible features. Companies such as Nike, Unilever, and Procter & Gamble have launched "accessible" or "inclusive" products that seem to be "for everyone". However, the important elements of these releases have been shaking.
According to the event, Olay’s design team absorbed the insights of consumers under "various conditions" and met with external experts—including the disabled journalist Madison Lawson—and team members with personal experience to provide support for the production of the lid.了信息。 The information.
Despite this seemingly comprehensive promotion, consumers with disabilities are still skeptical. Technology and social media reporter Emily Johnson stated in an interview that “most of the'accessible' products have nothing to do with disabled consumers at all.” Instead, they are a public relations strategy used to preserve the loyalty of non-disabled consumers. And praise, and often fail to see consumers with disabilities as the audience for brand messages. For example, Olay print ads are shared online without alt text, thereby preventing blind and low-vision consumers from fully accessing information about it. Johnson also pointed out that there is no difference in shape or size of the wing cap, which makes it impossible for consumers to distinguish the four Olay tanks that it fits by touching it.
Even more puzzling is the Braille text, which is limited to uppercase. Only a small percentage of legally blind people actually know how to read Braille, and there are other potentially more useful ways to convey information. "I can scan barcodes with my mobile phone to get more specific information than'face cream'," said blind scientist Elizabeth Hale, who also studies accessibility in STEM and uses screen-reading software. However, as with Braille, locating a QR code or barcode can be tricky for many blind and low-vision people, indicating that it is a challenge to claim the versatility of this feature or any other accessibility feature.
Interestingly, considering what Herbal Essences, another subsidiary of P&G, did in 2018, Olay chose to print “face cream” in Braille. After learning how to use raised stripes and dots from the focus group, they chose to distinguish between shampoo and conditioner bottles. Few people today know Braille. Olay’s use of braille is an empty gesture; as Johnson pointed out, “it’s useless to mark different products with the same label without braille details.”
If braille doesn’t actually provide information, what information will it convey? Perhaps Olay’s winged lid does not effectively characterize disability, so it incorporates Braille as a way to visually demonstrate its commitment to inclusiveness.
Limited edition for everyone?
Olay's brand series "Open to All" is a typical representative of the promotion and sale of disabled-centric design to the public. The nickname "For All" does two things: First, it sends a signal to the industry by combining the advantages of branding with inclusive design. "For all" has become a shorthand for the inclusive design slogan "solve one, expand to many". Second, it inspires consumers, who have learned to associate the language of “for all” with the narrative of corporate diversity and inclusion.
It is dishonest to claim that accessible products are "suitable for everyone" when their distribution channels are not as easily available as mainstream products. However, inclusively designed items are often released in limited editions through specific channels-for example, Olay is only sold on its website and not on store shelves.
In 2019, Lego launched Braille blocks, designed for blind and low-vision children. Lego did not commercialize Braille blocks, but released them to eligible institutions. American Printing House, the American distribution partner of Braille bricks, said in an email that Lego aims to ensure that these kits remain in the hands of schools and educators so that “they will not end up on the shelves at home or by collectors. It's dusty."
Lego’s concerns about collectors were later responded to by Nike. Nike released a limited edition of Go FlyEase sneakers, which made it impossible for consumers with disabilities to access this accessible sneaker, especially when it was sold in the resale market. When the price of $3,000 appears.
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