ROI of Inclusive Design
You may be trying to figure out how you can get your company to invest in Inclusive Design. While we all may agree that inclusivity in product development makes for better products that more people can enjoy, you may still hit a wall of noes coming from those who hold the purse strings.
This is my favorite argument because it is so easy to diffuse. Who would knowingly choose to design a product that decreases user acquisition and retention potential? In the US, the annual discretionary spending of people with disabilities is over $200 billion. The global estimate of the disability market is nearly $7 trillion, according to Web Accessibility Initiative.
Worldwide 15% of the population has a disability. And that number is growing everyday with an aging population. This fact is even more evident in certain countries. In fact, 20% of Japan’s population is 65+ and by 2010 1 in every 3 people will be over 65+, according to Japanese Times.
In America, the situation is as pronounced with 1 in 4 people having a disability, according to Oregon State University.This makes it extremely important to bring people with disabilities into the design process by recruiting them for both generative and evaluative research studies. In a study conducted by Nucleus Research, U.S. e-commerce retailers may be losing up to $6.9 billion annually to their competitors with more accessible websites. Imagine how much money could be saved and earned by recruiting for people who have disabilities.
At the heart of Inclusive Design is the ability to design a product that most people enjoy or gain its problem solving benefits. Universal Design and Accessibility are talked about in the same breath as Inclusive Design but focus on a narrower section of the pie. That pie being humanity.
It’s important to note that almost all of us will at some point have a disability. While the ROI to design for a growing aging and disabled population is clear as it becomes even more populous in certain countries, Inclusive Design considers culture, gender, age and more. There is no typical persona for Inclusive Design. It’s literally about making a product friendly for everyone.
Sources
https://www.w3.org/WAI/business-case/
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2019/11/19/commentary/japan-commentary/economic-challenge-japans-aging-crisis/
https://communications.uoregon.edu/accessibility
https://www.workdesign.com/2019/12/designing-for-neurodiversity-and-inclusion/