Projecting Friendly and Usefully: Guidelines for the Design of Consumer Goods In Keeping With the Principles of Universal Design

Guidelines for the Design of Consumer Goods In Keeping With the
Principles of Universal Design
Projecting Friendly and Usefully
Guidelines for the Design of Products Consistent with Universal Design Principles
Index
First Part
Universal Design as a New Standard of Design
0. Introduction 3
1. Objective of the Guidelines 4
2. Field of Application 4
3. References 4
4. The ICF Model of Human Functioning 4
5. The Functional Characteristics Of People 6
5.1. People With Motor Difficulties 7
5.2. People With Sensory Difficulties 8
5.3. People With Language Difficulties 9
5.4. People With Cognitive Difficulties 9
6. Design According to the Principles of Universal Design 10
Second Part
Design Process of Consumer Goods According to Universal Design Principles
1. Definition of Design Specifications 11
2. Design Criteria and Contents 12
3. Product Utilization 14
4. Controls 16
5. Interfaces 16
6. Documentation17
7. Safety 17
8. Principles of the Design’s Final Self-Assessment 17
8.1. Self-Assessment Method18
8.2. Self-Assessment Documentation 20
8.3. Threshold Of Overall Compliance 24

The Seven Principles of Universal Design
Non-discriminatory, fair use
The product is useful and marketable to people with different abilities.
Flexible Use
The product is adaptable to a vast range of individual needs and abilities.
Simple and Intuitive Use
It is easy to understand how to use the product, independently from the user’s
experience, knowledge, language or his level of concentration.
Recognizability of the Information
The product effectively communicates the necessary information to the user,
independently from environmental circumstances or from his sensory abilities.
Error Tolerance
The product minimizes hazards and negative consequences from accidental or
unintentional actions.
Minimization of Physical Effort
The product can be used in a comfortable and efficient way with minimum
effort. Size and Spaces Suitable for Approach and Use
The product provides for suitable spaces and proportions for approaching,
reaching, manipulating and using the product regardless of physical size,
posture or the user’s mobility.
The Center for Universal Design (1997). The Principles of Universal Design, Version 2.0
Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University
Copyright © 1997 NC State University, The Center for Universal Design
The principle of form neutrality has been elaborate by the Pro.f.Use research group.
Form Neutrality
The product’s look and shape do not refer to specific
or specialized products intended for people with disabilities.

First Part
Universal Design as a New Standard of Design
0. Introduction
The anthropometrical model of reference for designing space, rooms and products is usually that
of the “standard” man, a user-type that contains within himself the so-called “average” or “normal”
characteristics of size and function. This concept of the standard user is the very basis of the
cultural and professional training of some designers. Over the years, this standard-based design
process has evolved to include other categories of users with various functional and
anthropometrical characteristics, such as children, people with motor disabilities, those with
sensory disabilities and the elderly. In reality, we know that this “standard” does not exist: each
individual is unique and different from the others, as the same individual can change his own
functional and size characteristics over the course of his life.
A design culture that goes beyond the simplification of standards and looks at each individual’s
diversity as a richness and no longer as an obstacle to correct design has established itself over
the last thirty years. Diversity has been transformed into a resource for the realization of a human
environment that is increasingly inclusive, comfortable and safe for everyone.
Out of this type of universal vision, the definition of Universal Design was born in the United
States and its principles are the cultural and technical points of reference for these guidelines.
Further confirmation of the correctness of this new cultural process comes from the ICF
(International Classification on Functioning, Disability and Health), a classification approved by the
World Health Organization in May 2001 and accepted by 191 countries, that represents the cultural
framework and the language most suited to describing the universality of the phenomenon and
supports the scientific process used in creating these guidelines as an operational guide. A
notable contribution comes from the involvement of people with temporary and permanent
disabilities in the drafting of this instrument; for them, these obstacles from the anthropic world
created by society represent a limit or inhibit their participation in civil life, causing conditions of
exclusion and discrimination.
1. Objective of the Guidelines
1.1 What these guidelines are
The guidelines’ objective is to provide designers and enterprises with the cultural and technical
instruments necessary for a design in accordance with the principles of Universal Design. This
process has been codified and defined as the design of products and environments usable by the
greatest number possible of people of all ages and abilities."
With regard to respecting and valuing diversity, the objective of the guidelines is therefore to
promote the inclusion of everyone in all human activities that.
Trying to satisfy every type of user is a utopian idea but it contributes all the same to the creation
of a product that favours the process of inclusion. It is thus necessary to consider Universal
Design more as a process that guides the design culture than as a definitive result to be obtained.
This emphasizes the necessity of promoting and applying inclusive design methodologies, by
considering objective evaluation criteria and design process indicators that could guide the
designer through concrete steps.

1.2 What these guidelines are not
These guidelines must not be seen as a good design manual but it can be interpreted as an initial
design tool for controlling and managing the non-discriminatory outcome of the design
process for any article.
The research begins with some general considerations:
The Definition And Principles Of Universal Design.
The Principles of the European Concept of Accessibility (ECA 2003).
International Classification on Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF 2001).
Following these guidelines does not necessarily lead to the design of a “good” product, but surely
to a non-discriminatory product in respect to the diversity of its potential users. A product’s
success is determined by a complex system of factors, among which figure, increasingly, the
ethical and non-discriminatory aspects of a company and its products. In order to design a
successful as well as non-discriminatory product, the design process cannot and must not avoid
guaranteeing both correctness and product quality, meant as an effective synthesis of its
morphological and functional qualities. Product quality must therefore be considered an a priori
requirement of design and not a criterion pertaining to Universal Design.
2. Field of Application
These guidelines can be used in all design processes for everyday objects, given a clear resolve
on the part of the designer to adhere to the principles of Universal Design. Attachment 3 ‘Design
Evaluation Form’ specifies the requisites for the evaluation of the design process. These
guidelines can be used when an organization:
0a. needs to carry out a self-assessment
1b. needs to demonstrate to interested parties the compliance of its design processes for specific
products through a third party verification.
3. References
The Principles of Universal Design, version 2.0 4/1/97, NC State University, The Center for
Universal Design.
European Concept of Accessibility, ECA 2003.
ICF International Classification on Functioning, Disability and Health, World Health Organization,
2001.
4. The ICF Model of Functioning
These Guidelines, suitable for assessing the various abilities of product users, make reference to
the International Classification on Functioning, Disability and Health
(ICF), approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 22 May 2002. The ICF provides
instructions on the new international standards to measure and classify health and disability.
The ICF belongs to a family of international classification systems developed by WHO and it is a
revision of the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities, and Handicaps (ICIDH)
published in 1980.
The ICF’s objective is that of furnishing a common language to describe and measure an

individual’s disability, or rather, to describe and measure the varieties of human functioning. The
ICF is a classification system of health and its correlated states -- it is an instrument to outline a
profile of an individual’s general state of health, as well as the characteristics associated to one’s
life experience. We can consider the ICF a complete vocabulary that permits a description of
human functioning in relation to various disabilities. The ICF Classification adopts and promotes
an interpretation of disability of a “bio-psychosocial” type, with the objective of providing a
consistent perspective of different health dimensions at a
biological,
individual, and
social level.
The bio-psychosocial model is based on the integration of two great conceptual models that, over
time, have held contrasting views on disability: the medical model and the social model.
The medical model was and still is predominant; the social model was born in opposition to the
medical one and has been linked historically to the need to promote the human rights of people
with disabilities.
13
The medical model of disability considers physiological and psychological abnormalities (caused
by illness, psychological disturbance or injury) as problems to be treated through medical
interventions. From the social model’s point of view, disability stems mainly from the
disadvantages imposed by the physical and social environment that surrounds us.
Recognizing their complimentarity, the ICF proposes integrating the two models, stating that:
both the medical model and the social one provide appropriate elements of interpretation and
intervention;
neither the medical model nor the social one is sufficient by themselves to provide solutions.
The ICF bio-psychosocial model is well summarized by the diagram below that describes the
interaction between the various classification components. The medical perspective is shown on
the left side of the diagram; the social one, on the right, is related to the environment. The
diagram’s central area is the result of the relationship between one’s health condition and the
environment. This diagram contains a political and social message because it collects all the
requests of interest groups for the rights of people with disabilities and states that a disability’s
disadvantage is largely caused by a lack of resources, opportunities and adaptations to the
environment in which each individual lives

Disability is considered the complex interaction between an individual’s characteristics and
those of the world.
The ICF therefore, besides containing a political and social message regarding the disadvantages
to people with disabilities caused by the lack of resources, opportunities and environmental
adjustments, provides the launching pad for the scientific validation of these concepts.
In particular, it can be methodically and precisely demonstrated:
WHEN and with WHAT IMPORTANCE does the environment restrict a person’s full
participation?
WHAT KIND OF ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS can increase participation (removing
obstacles/providing opportunities)?
From this base, it is evident how environmental factors can, in relation to their qualitative and
quantitative characteristics, facilitate or obstruct the functioning of each one of us.
5. The Functional Characteristics of People
What knowledge about the variety of human bodies serves to direct the designer’s choices in the
search for solutions that favour the usability without discrimination of a product on which he is
working?
What kind of person must he think about?
In what kind of “functional framework” and in what condition?
To begin to give an answer to these questions, it is necessary to make reference to a framework –
schematic and not exhaustive – descriptive of people with diversity due to impairment and/or
particular contextual situations.
People with motor difficulties
1a. People with upper limb motor difficulties

2b. People with lower limb motor difficulties
3c. People with other motor difficulties
People with sensory difficulties
1a. People with visual difficulties
2b. People with hearing difficulties
3c. People with other sensory difficulties
People with language difficulties
People with cognitive, comprehension or orientation difficulties
5.1 People with motor difficulties
The type of motor difficulty can depend on a temporary or permanent impairment due to trauma or
to a great variety of pathologies: arthritis, lack or deformity of one
or more limbs, multiple sclerosis, medullar injuries.
These impairments can limit or impede activities necessary for the use of a product.
5.1.1 People with upper limb motor difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairment caused by stroke,
tendonitis, arthritis, amputation, medullar injury - tetraplegia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple
sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, a result of poliomyelitis, cerebral paralysis, or a lack or congenital
defect of the upper limbs. In the same group, we can also include children with small hands and
little strength, the elderly with a natural decrease in functionality of movement and strength, people
in chronically fatigued states or who can use incidentally a single hand or arm, people who wear
personal protective clothing or
equipment such as gloves – people who cannot temporarily use their dominant hand or arm,
people that work in extreme and adverse environmental conditions.
In all of these cases, problems of movement, coordination and/or strength in the use of upper limbs
can be verified.
The designer must therefore develop solutions that facilitate the execution of these actions:
Reaching down, up,
forward, back
Pushing/pulling
Lifting
Transporting
Holding
Revolving/turning
Manipulating
5.1.2 People with lower limb motor difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairments caused by stroke,
tendonitis, arthritis, amputation, medullar injury – tetraplegia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple
sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, a result of poliomyelitis, cerebral paralysis, or a lack or congenital
defect of the lower limbs, people with respiratory and/or circulatory difficulties. We can also

include in the same group: children, the elderly with a natural decrease in functionality of
movement, strength and balance, people in chronically fatigued states, people who wear personal
protective clothing or equipment such as work boots, and pregnant women. People with lower limb
motor difficulties may or may not use mobility aids, such as canes, crutches, Canadian crutches,
walkers, manual and/or electronic wheelchairs, mobility scooters, etc... In these cases, there is a
verifiable overlapping with the needs of those with upper limb motor difficulties, (i.e., a person
using a cane to walk has only one free hand), and the size of the aids must be taken into account,
(e.g., enough frontal space for a person in a wheelchair to approach, a suitable height for use). In
all of these cases, problems of movement, coordination and/or strength in the use of lower limbs
can be verified. The designer must therefore develop design solutions that facilitate the execution
of the following actions:
Standing/Sitting
Walking
Maintaining one’s equilibrium on one or both feet
Manoeuvring with the feet, such as operating a pedal
5.1.3 People with other motor difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairment caused by stroke,
tendonitis, arthritis, amputation, medullar injury - tetraplegia, Parkinson’s disease, multiple
sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, a result of poliomyelitis, cerebral paralysis, people with respiratory
and/or circulatory
difficulties.
In the same group we can also include children, the elderly with a natural decrease in functionality
of movement, strength and balance, people in chronically fatigued states, people who wear
personal protective clothing or equipment, and pregnant women. In all of these cases, problems of
movement, coordination and/or strength in the overall functionality of the body itself can be
verified.
The designer must therefore develop design solutions that facilitate the execution of such actions
as:
Changing a fundamental body position, such as sitting, reclining, crouching, kneeling, standing
up, or bending
Maintaining a body position, such as remaining for a certain amount of time seated, reclined,
crouched, kneeled, or in an upright position
Maintaining balance
Moving the body’s barycenter
5.2 People with sensory difficulties
The type of sensory difficulties can depend on temporary or permanent impairments due to a great
variety of pathologies. These impairments can limit or impede various important activities in the
use of a product.
5.2.1 People with visual difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairments caused by blindness,
hypo-vision, glaucoma, retinitis, cataracts, or damage to the eye’s structure or functions. In the
same group we can also include the elderly with a natural decrease in visual capacity due to aging,
people who wear personal protective devices, such as protective glasses, people who operate in
extreme and adverse environmental conditions (places with elevated light glare, places with
coloured or low lighting), people who work in environment with strong visual pollution, and people
fatigued by visual activity. In all these cases, in which a reduction or absence of visual capacity is
verified, the designer must develop appropriate design solutions to permit everyone to:

1a. Perceive details and parts with near vision and distance vision.
2b. Perceive details and parts with alternative modalities to the visual ones
3c. Distinguish objects from the background
4d. Perceive differences in light
5e. Perceive distances and sizes
5.2.2 People with hearing difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairments caused by deafness,
inner ear damage, cerebral trauma, damage from prolonged exposure to noise, hearing decrease
due to aging. In the same group, we can also include people distracted by many sources of noise,
people who work in highly noise-polluted environments, people who use headphones and
earphones, also as a means of personal protection.
In all these cases, the designer must develop appropriate design solutions that facilitate people
with reduced or no hearing faculty in the execution of the following actions:
1a. Perceive high and low tones
2b. Perceive relevant information from background noise
3c. Identify the source of sound signals
4d. Perceive with alternative modalities
5.2.3 People with other sensory difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairments that cause a loss of
tactile functions and of sensory functions related to temperature and other stimuli. In the same
group, we can also include people who use personal protective clothing and/or systems, people
who work in particularly hostile environments, e.g., a cold environment can cause a tangible loss of
sensory functions. In all these cases, the designer must develop design solutions that assist
people with impaired sensory functions:
1a. The perception of surfaces: structure and quality
2b. The perception of temperature and the subsequent risk of burns
3c. The perception of vibrations
4d. The perception of tremors
5e. The perception of superficial and/or strong pressures
5.3 People with language difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairments due to various causes.
In some cases, language difficulties can be related to hearing and/or cognitive difficulties.
In the same group we can also include foreigners or those who use a different language, people
from different cultures, children, and elderly people with a natural loss of functional capacity,
people who work in particularly hostile environments or who use personal protective clothing or
systems. In all these cases, the designer must develop design solutions that assist people who
may have problems intelligibly expressing actions when required, as in all cases in which the
product presupposes the use of voice commands, a voice response to questions or the expression
of requests.
5.4. People with cognitive, comprehension and orientation difficulties
This group can include people with temporary or permanent impairments caused by mental
retardation, Down’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, cranial trauma.

In the same group we can also include fatigued or distracted people, foreigners or those who use a
different language, people from different cultures, people with a limited vocabulary, children, and
the elderly with a natural loss of mnemonic capacity.
In all these cases, the designer must develop design solutions that assist people with cognitive,
comprehension and orientation diversities:
a. Understanding of visual, auditory and tactile information
1b. Timely reaction to stimuli
2c. Maintenance of concentration
3d. Initiation of a sequence of actions
4e. Memorization
6. Design according to Universal Design principles
Design according to Universal Design principles must include constant comparison with a variety
of potential users.
The design process should allow time for multi-disciplinary dialogues between the designer and
experts. In addition, such a process must respond to all stages of self-assessment, through the
use of the most objective parameters possible, in order to satisfy the ultimate objective of
increasing the number of users.
The procedure presented in the second part of these guidelines is a methodological proposal
aimed at guiding the designer and at documenting the design process inspired by the Universal
Design criteria, with particular attention to the design’s final assessment.

Second Part
Design Process of Consumer Goods According to Universal Design Principles
1. Definition of Design Specifications
The beginning of the design process consists of the following stages:
1a. An analysis of the needs that are meant to be satisfied by the new product and an analysis of
products with similar functions
2b. Identification of the users target
3c. Analysis of other possible conditioning factors such as production constraints, the appropriate
use of materials, finishing and treatments as well as market information
The needs analysis will take into consideration the current typology of equivalent or similar
products that will serve as the benchmark for the design of the new product. In addition, a specific
evaluation of the functional limitations connected to the product of reference and, in particular,
directed towards people who have one or more of the difficulties listed in chapter 5 of the first part
of these Guidelines.
Considering that one of the principal objectives for a standard item is its flexibility of use, an item
with such qualities is guaranteed greater distribution in the marketplace and, therefore, commercial
success.
To such ends, it is advisable to carry out usability tests both of existing products and of eventual
prototypes of the product under consideration in the design process. The usability tests of existing
products can be carried out according to various modalities. They can be direct, indirect,
simulated, live, carried out through normative functional and technical verification on the basis of
validated information and tools. They depend on various factors, such as resource, opportunity,
the work team’s direct or indirect experience. These guidelines urge strengthening the principles

of inclusivity for people with disabilities. To such ends, it seems opportune, if not absolutely
necessary, to involve in the assessment the maximum number of figures including potential users
but also technical figures able to provide specific competencies in the field of functioning, people
with disabilities, doctors, rehabilitation counsellors, occupational therapists, psychologists or social
workers. The methodology for involving such figures should include a comprehensive identification
of all interested subjects and evidence of the motivations of those pre-selected.
The assessment of the products of reference will be documented on appropriate forms.
Attach. 2 Form for the Analysis of Products of Reference
The design specifications must be spelled out formally and concisely on the form, Attach. 1
Product Outline, which contains the main characteristics intended for the product, and is subject to
examination by interested parties.
Besides the product’s identification through a description and a code, the following aspects must
be indicated:
a. The product’s possible users and the needs it will meet
b. The potential target users
c. The analysis of the production cycle
d. The calculation of manufacturing costs and definition of the market price
e. Other specific constraints could be proportions, shape, and the appropriate use of materials.
In respect to the principles of Universal Design, it is necessary that the characteristics, objective of
the design process, formalized in Attach. 1 Product Outline described in the previous paragraph,
implement the concepts of non-discrimination and of the greatest degree of accessibility.
2. Design criteria and contents
The design process must include a detailed analysis of the product’s functions, considered both
separately and as part of a system. In the various stages of the design, the following aspects must
be taken into consideration.
1a. The operations necessary to assemble, install, test, use, power, maintain, disassemble
and dispose of the product
2b. All the means by which the user interacts with the product making choices and inputting
what are defined as commands.
3c. All the means by which the product provides the user with information and indications that
are defined as interfaces.
4d. The product’s accompanying documentation, including the instructions for use, installation,
maintenance and disposal.
5e. All aspects related to the product’s safety towards the user or third parties.
6f. The study of the product’s form, and thus of its form neutrality, that does not identify it as a
product intended for disabled users.
2.1. The criteria of non-discrimination
During the design, the following criteria will be taken into account:
1a. The first seven principles of Universal Design
2b. A principle derived from the ECA’s criterion number 6, developed so as to achieve an
objectively quantifiable standard

2.1.1. Objective 1 – Non-discriminatory use
The objectives of the design must be to:
1a. Permit the same means of use by all users
2b. Avoid isolating some users
3c. Create conditions of privacy, safety and comfort that are equally valid for all users
4d. Make the product attractive to each user
2.1.2. Objective 2 – Flexibility of use
The product must be adaptable to the widest spectrum of individual abilities, in particular
1a. Allow different ways for using the product
2b. Anticipate its use also by left-handed people
3c. Enable users to be careful in their use of the product
4d. Provide for adaptability of use to different users’ ways and rhythms
2.1.3. Objective 3 – Simple and intuitive usability
The product’s use must be simple to understand regardless of the users’ experience, their
knowledge, linguistic abilities, and level of concentration. It is therefore necessary to:
1a. Eliminate unnecessary complexity
2b. Be consistent with the users’ expectations and perceptions
3c. Anticipate a wide variety of language abilities and comprehension capacities
4d. Organize information according to its importance
5e. Provide suggestions and confirmations during and after use
2.1.4. Objective 4 – Effective Information
The product must be able to communicate necessary information effectively, regardless of the
users’ environmental conditions or sensory abilities. It is therefore necessary to:
1a. Make essential information understandable
2b. Differentiate elements on the basis of what they must describe
3c. Guarantee compatibility with the various devices used by people with different sensory
limitations
2.1.5. Objective 5 – Tolerance of errors
In order to minimize the hazards and negative consequences of accidental or involuntary actions,
the design must:
1a. Use informative elements and components that reduce hazard and error to a minimum
2b. Eliminate, protect and isolate elements that may cause errors or be hazardous
3c. Provide warnings in order to avoid hazards and errors
4d. Provide safety features
5e. Discourage carelessness during operations that require attention
2.1.6. Objective 6 - Minimization of Physical Effort
Utilization must be efficient, comfortable and require minimum effort.
1a. Allow users to maintain a correct posture
2b. Use reasonable effort to operate
3c. Reduce repetitive operations to a minimum
4d. Reduce significant physical effort to a minimum
2.1.7. – Objective 7 – Space and Size for Maximum Accessibility
Appropriate spaces and sizes must be allowed in order for the user to reach, hold, manipulate and
use the objects regardless of body size, position or ability to move.

1a. Define precisely areas of visibility of informative and operating elements for both standing
and seated users,
2b. Check positioning of objects to allow room for users in various positions
3c. Anticipate its adaptability to different heights for working and interface elements
4d. Design spaces adequate for the use of assistive equipment or personal assistance
2.1.8. Objective 8 – Form neutrality
The product’s aspect and thus the study of its form must not be related to specific or specialized
products intended for people with disabilities.
2.2 Assessment
For each of the principles described, a clear and objective examination must be carried out and
formalized in order to assess the correspondence of the product designed to the objectives
previously established.
The result of the assessment must be expressed in explicit terms, for example, with the
assignment of judgements, such as satisfactory, unsatisfactory, marginal, or by the assignment of
proportional evaluations.
From the development of the analysis phase, it is possible to identify the product’s critical points.
These points will make up design elements to improve the product itself, in functional and
perceived aspects, and thus to increase the final assessment score. In such cases, the design will
be re-examined and subjected to a new assessment.
3. Product utilization
In these Guidelines, product utilization is intended as the sum of operations necessary to
assemble, install, test, use, power, maintain, disassemble and dispose of the product. In respect
to the seven principles of Universal Design, the designer’s primary objective must be to increase
the number of users who can carry out the actions that we are about to describe.
Lift, move, and handle the product easily and with complete safety. In various forms and at
various levels, all these actions require a physical effort that can be difficult or impossible for
people with temporary or permanent disabilities so as to constitute a limitation. Other difficulties
can arise for people who use predominantly either the right or left limbs. In respect to the
Universal Design principles, it is necessary for the designer to analyze the criticalities in relation
to the product’s use, breaking them down into elementary stages that allow identifying the
difficulties connected to each stage, checking for possible solutions to overcome or contain
them through design.
Open or close the product, connect or remove accessories or other components correctly.
Further difficulties may be connected to the need for precision movements or to the reduced
proportions of the product’s accessories or components.
In order to render the product’s utilization non-discriminatory, it is therefore appropriate to carry out
a detailed functional analysis. In this analysis it is necessary to compare alternative functional
methods and devices to achieve a given performance by examining similar existing products. The
analysis consists of breaking down the elementary stages of the product’s use and identifying the
critical points in relation to users’ functional profiles and should be documented in Attach. 2, Form
for the Analysis of Products of Reference. The data extrapolated from the functional analysis, the
critical points, efforts to improve the design of the new product will be documented in the Product
Outline form. The new product will be considered also in relation to the production process, to its

manufacturing costs and its life cycle.
Example A
Analyses of the Stages of Use
Product
System for music CD reproduction
Analyzed Phase
Insertion of CD into reader
The utilization stages are identified as: Perception of the product Perception of the start button’s
position Turning CD reader on Perception of the correct positioning of the CD Insertion of CD
Closing of door Perception of the positioning of the control interface and its position on the
product Understanding each key’s function Track selection Volume regulation
Interruption of reading
Removal of the CD
Turning CD reader off
The procedure for inserting the CD media into the reader the procedure can be broken down into
the following steps:
Perception of the opening mechanism Opening the reading mechanism Insertion of the CD
Closing of the reading mechanism
For such a process, there may be some of the following problems:
Is the CD reader door easily accessible for people in a sitting position or with restricted upper limb
movements, or sensory limitations?
Is CD selection possible by all users?
Is the reader’s opening mechanism easily understood?
Is the operation of the opening mechanism easy to use?
Or does it require movement precision?
Can the opening mechanism be operated inadvertently?
Does the placement of the media in the reader require movement precision?
Some theories of design interventions
Modify the positioning of the reading mechanism Identification of the position for inserting the CD
by intuitive, three-dimensional or sound indicator
Comfortably-sized opening/closing controls

4. Controls In these guidelines, controls mean all devices through which the user interacts with the
product, making selections and issuing commands. These include switches, buttons, handles,
touch screens, mouse, voice commands, etc. The importance of such devices is intuitively
essential and related to many of the principles examined in chapter 1, second part. The designer
must work so that the commands are easily reachable, interpreted and utilized. They must allow
accuracy, sufficient tolerance for errors, and guarantee safety.
4.1 Objectives of controls design
The designer must keep in mind the objective of increasing the number of users by facilitating the
following actions:
Reach controls easily and effectively
The possibility, or not, of reaching the controls can depend on stature, the necessity of assuming a
set position – as with the use of a wheelchair which limits movement, or the impossibility of seeing
the controls. The controls must be clear and accessible thanks to a precise communication
hierarchy defined in the design phase.
Interpret the control functions correctly
The controls necessary for the correct use of the product can include handles, buttons, and
cursors, touch screens and voice synthesizers. The recognisability of the control function –
volume, intensity, direction, luminosity, temperature – is determined by specific characteristics.
Such recognisability must be possible for the greatest number of users.
Use the controls correctly
To use the controls correctly, it is necessary that the reaction to the operation be indicated. In
order to ensure that the reaction is identifiable, the product must be designed considering aspects
of visual, tactile and sound communication.
5. Interfaces
In these Guidelines, interfaces mean all the devices through which the product furnishes the user
with indications and information, such as display, graduated scales, audible signals, vibrations,
signal lights and changing colours.
5.1. Interface design objectives
With the objective of increasing the number of users, the designer must facilitate the understanding
of the information supplied by the interface by making it unambiguous.
Perceive information from the product correctly and immediately
This information can be visual, tactile or audible. The correct perception of information may
depend on a very high number of factors, including the use of a language known to the user or
other conceptual characteristics. To assist in understanding the information correctly, the interface
may use visual, tactile or audible communication.

Interpret information correctly
The interpretation of information must be clear and easy, and be available for the time needed to
be understood.
Avoid the possibility of important information not be understood
The presence of a message may not be sufficient to guarantee the user’s safety; in such a case, it
may be necessary to input something or confirm that the message was understood in order to
continue to use the product.
6. Documentation
In these Guidelines, documentation means all the manuals that contain instructions for use,
assembly and use diagrams, and any other document necessary to provide the user with
information on the correct method to assembly, install, test, use, feed, maintain, disassemble and
dispose of the product.
In respect to the seven principles of Universal Design, the designer must draw up plans with the
objective of increasing the number of users, facilitating the understanding of information supplied in
the documentation accompanying the product. It may be necessary to consider users with various
visual abilities:
1
2a. Users that may encounter difficulties in reading normal documents because of the size of
the characters.
3b. Users that may encounter difficulties in interpreting graphics and diagrams because of
insufficient chromatic contrast.
4c. Users who are absolutely unable to use printed documents or that may encounter difficulties
in handling paper documents.
7. Safety
As regards the safety of the product’s users or others, the designer will refer to the safety
regulations in force, such as those connected to application of CE Marking. To this end, it is
necessary to consider the environments examined in the preceding paragraphs, with regard to the
specific difficulties that a user may encounter, through the analysis of the functional framework
described in chapter 5 of the first part.
8. Principles for the design’s final self-assessment
In order to be considered consistent with the principles of Universal Design and of the ECA, in the
perspective introduced in the ICF assessment procedures, the product must be usable by the
greatest number of people in a non-discriminatory form and contribute to the easy completion of
one or more activities. This contribution may be translated into
a. Improvement and/or facilitation of the completion of activities related to the product’s use.
b. Increase in autonomy and improvement of the user’s quality of life.
In order to assess the design’s validity, specific activities to which the product should respond must
be identified initially. For this classification, reference will be made to the ICF (International
Classification on Functioning, Disability and Health). Being able to perform certain activities, such
as transporting personal effects, may contribute to a significant increase in the user’s autonomy

and, therefore, to an improvement in his quality of life. Thus, it becomes essential for the current
Guidelines to provide a definition of these two terms: autonomy and quality of life.
Autonomy
Autonomy is an individual’s behaviour in light of the following four dimensions:
Ability to handle
The ability to perform the activities of daily living, such as personal care, domestic chores and the
ability to communicate.
Independence
The management of one’s own activities and the ability to autonomously plan and organize one’s
own life, including social role and interpersonal relations.
Self-determination
The ability to make choices and decisions about one’s own life and health
Self-realization
A feeling of well-being with oneself and living life as one wishes. (Ven van de et al., 2005)
Quality of life
Quality of life means the complete well-being resulting from an overall assessment of one’s own
functionalities and physical sensations and one’s own psychological functionalities and social role.
(Ven van de et al., 2005)
Example B
Identification of activities in the ICF classification
In the case of a product related to the manual transport of objects using the upper limbs, related
activities are included in the main category of “Mobility” and in the subcategory ‘transport, mobility
and handling of objects’ (d430-d449)*; more precisely
1.Lifting and transporting objects (d430)
2.Good use of hands (d440)
3.Use of hands and arms (d445)
——————————————
*(WHO, 2001; http://www3.who.int/icf/icftemplate.cfm)
8.1. Method for self-assessment
Design assessment must be based on the product’s effectiveness in contributing to determined
activities identified as a reference in terms of the user’s increased autonomy and quality of life, in
relation to the seven principles of Universal Design and to the last of the ECA principles, modified
in the concept of Form Neutrality for the first time in this volume. It also seems opportune, if not
essential, in this phase, to involve technical figures able to provide specific knowledge in the field
of disability – doctors, rehabilitation counsellors, and psychologists. The achievement of the
objectives related to each of the criteria expressed in paragraph 2.1 of the second part may be
verified using the questionnaire of the document found as Attach. 3, Design Assessment Form.

Non-discriminatory utilization
The product must be usable by any user. It must respect the diversity of users, avoid the
segregation or separation of some users and create conditions of equal availability for privacy,
safety and well-being.
a. Does the product offer all users the same benefits, identical, if possible, or otherwise
equivalent?
b. Does it avoid the isolation or segregation of some categories of users? (Danford & Tauke,
2001)
c. Does it guarantee the same privacy, safety and well-being to everyone?
Flexibility
The product must be adapted to the widest possible spectrum of individual abilities and
preferences.
.1a. Does the product permit a choice of various modalities of use?
.2b. Does it anticipate being used with either the left or the right hand?
.3c. Does it allow the user to obtain precise results?
.4d. Can its use be adapted to different spaces?
Simplicity, intuitiveness and comprehensibility
The product’s use must be simple to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge,
linguistic ability or level of concentration.
a. Has all unnecessary complexity been removed?
b. Does the product encourage inappropriate expectations from users?
c. Is it adapted for people with different linguistic abilities and levels of knowledge?
d. Is the hierarchy of information clearly identifiable?
e. Is the sequence of actions clearly identifiable?
f. Does it provide suggestions and confirmations during and after use?
Clarity of Information
The product must effectively communicate necessary information, regardless of environmental
conditions or the user’s sensory abilities.
a. Are different methods – visual, verbal, tactile, audible – used for a complete presentation of
essential information?
b. Are icons common to different countries being used, avoiding the use of words or
abbreviations in the local language that could create confusion?
c. Has adequate differentiation been made between essential and extra information?
d. Is the information differentiated on the basis of what must be described?
e. Is compatibility guaranteed with auxiliaries and devices used by people with sensory
limitations?
Safety and tolerance for errors
The product must minimize hazards and the negative consequences of accidental or involuntary
actions. The product should not be hazardous to any user.
.1a. Is the product made only from components that reduce hazards and the possibility of error to
a minimum? Have all possibly dangerous elements been eliminated, isolated or protected?
.2b. Is information that serves to avoid hazards and errors present on the product?
.3c. Does the product have safety features?
.4d. Does the product discourage careless use during actions that require attention?

Minimum physical effort and healthy use
It must be possible to use the product effectively and comfortably with minimum effort. The
product must not have elements that are hazardous to the user’s health.
.1a. Doe it allow users to maintain correct postures?
.2b. Can it be used with limited effort?
c. Are repetitive operations reduced to a minimum?
Size and spaces adequate for the approach, use and functionality of the product
The product’s overall proportions and size must allow approaching, holding, manipulating and
using the components regardless of the user’s physical characteristics, his position or his ability to
move.
.1a. Are the product’s components clearly and easily visible to all users, both sitting and
standing?
.2b. Are all the components easy to reach for both sitting and standing users?
.3c. Are the interfaces and controls adaptable for use at different heights?
.4d. Are the proportions defined in such a way to allow adequate space for those using personal
auxiliaries?
Form neutrality
The product’s form must not in any way be related to products specifically designed for disabled
users. The product’s look is a concrete expression of the intention of inclusion; the choice of the
product is no longer discriminatory.
8.2. Self-assessment documentation
In order to increase the objectivity of the assessment, it is possible to change the previous
section’s questionnaire to yes-no questions, the responses to which can be inserted in the special
boxes, as in the following example:

Example C
Self-assessment questionnaire
Choose the statement which corresponds to the assessment’s outcome:
Principle 1: Equivalent and respectful use
Non-discriminatory use
2 points: All or most users can use the product in the same way; where it is not possible, the
means for using it are equivalent.
1 point: Many but not all user groups can use the product in the same
way; for some it is not possible to use it in an equivalent way.
0 points: For many users, the product can not be used in the same way, or different, non-
equivalent utilization modalities are necessary.
No segregation or stigmatization
2= The use of the product does not have any advantages or disadvantages for certain groups
of users.
1= The use of the product has advantages or disadvantages for one or more groups of users.
0= The use of the product does not have any advantages or disadvantages for large groups of
users.
Same conditions of privacy, safety and well-being
2= Privacy, safety and protection are guaranteed equally to all groups of users.
1= Privacy, safety and protection are not guaranteed in equal measure to one or more groups
of users
0= Privacy, safety and protection are not guaranteed in equal measure for many groups of
users.
Principle 2: Flexibility
Choice of the method of use
2= Alternatives in the method of use are possible; no user group is excluded.
1= Only a few alternatives in the method of use are possible; some user groups are excluded.
0= No alternatives in the method of use are possible; many user groups are excluded.
Right-handed/left-handed use
1= It is possible to use both the right and the left hands.
0= Only the right or the left hand can be used, not both.
Need for careful operation by users
2= The user does not need to be particularly careful or accurate when using the product
1= The user needs to be somewhat careful or accurate when using the product
0= The user needs to be very careful or accurate when using the product
Principle 3: Simplicity, intuitiveness and clarity
Elimination of unnecessary complexity
The product may be needlessly complex or not allow alternatives to how it is used. This is,
however, a subjective criterion and cannot give way to objective classifications; therefore, it will not
constitute a decisive criterion.
Creation of inappropriate expectations

The product must not create or permit the user to have inappropriate expectations regarding its
effectiveness. This, too, is subjective and will not constitute a decisive criterion.
Compatibility with various linguistic abilities and knowledge
2= If there is an instructions manual, it contains short sentences expressed simply (spoken
language); the most complex words are explained.
1= Various knowledge and linguistic abilities are somewhat considered; the manual still
presents some complexity (long sentences and/or complex words without explanation).
0= Various knowledge and linguistic abilities are not considered at all: the manual is complex;
it uses long sentences and does not explain complicated words.
Arrangement of information on the basis of its importance
2= The most important information is immediately identifiable.
1= The most important information is clear but requires some care.
0= The most important information is not clear at all.
Information on sequential actions
2= The sequence of actions is very clear, (i.e., they are described in the correct order in the
manual or made clear through drawings.)
1= The sequence of actions is not very clear, (i.e., they are not described in a very logical way
in the manual or are not made sufficiently clear through drawings).
0= The sequence of actions is unclear, (i.e., they are not described in the correct order in the
manual or they are not made clear despite the drawings).
Temporal information on the stages of use
2= it is very clear what to do during and after product use
1= it is not very clear what to do during and after product use
0= it is not clear what to do during and after product use
Principle 4: Clarity of the Information
Different modalities of expression
2= Essential information is provided via various modalities, so all people, even those with
visual, hearing, olfactory, taste or tactile difficulties can understand the information
(expressed with text, drawings, auditory messages, tactile information)
1= Essential information is provided using few modalities; some user groups are excluded
(e.g., people with visual, hearing, olfactory, taste or tactile difficulties).
0= Essential information is provided in a single modality excluding numerous groups of people.
Information through symbols
2= Only universally recognized icons are used to communicate information
1= Not all the icons used are universally recognized.
0= The icons used are not universally recognized
Recognizability of essential information
2= Essential information is perfectly recognizable as regards other information.
1= Essential information is moderately recognizable as regards other information because it is not
sufficiently differentiated.
0= Essential information is difficult to recognize as regards other information.

Principle 5: Safety and tolerance for errors
2= All the components used in the product are safe and easily accessible; hazardous elements
have been eliminated, isolated or shielded.
1= All the components used in the product are moderately safe and relatively accessible; not
all hazardous elements have been eliminated, isolated or shielded.
0= Many elements used in the product are not safe or accessible; hazardous elements have
not been eliminated, isolated or shielded.
Warning systems
2= Warnings are provided for all possible hazards and errors.
1= Warnings are provided for many but not all possible hazards and errors.
0= No warnings are provided for possible hazards and errors.
Safety features
2= The product has safety accessories that become clear and effective when a malfunction is
verified; all situations of malfunction are anticipated.
1= The product has safety accessories that become clear and effective when a malfunction is
verified, but not all situations of malfunction are anticipated. (Some safety features are
missing).
0= The product does not have any safety accessories that become clear and effective when a
malfunction is verified.
Protection against unwitting actions where caution is required
2= Users are encouraged to pay attention and to be careful when they use the product in every
situation that requires the user to pay attention.
1= Users are encouraged to pay attention and to be careful when they use the product in many
but not all situations that require their attention.
0= Even if caution is required when using the product, users are not at all encouraged to pay
attention and to be careful when they use the product in various situations.
Principle 6: Minimal physical effort and healthy use
2= During all, or almost all, the time that the product is being used, the body can maintain a
neutral position.
1= A neutral body position can be maintained sometimes but not always.
0= During product use, it is not possible or it is difficult to maintain a neutral body position.
Operating effort
2= Product use requires little or no effort.
1= Product use requires tangible effort.
0= Product use is possible only with great effort.
Repetitive actions
2= Repetitive actions are not required for product use.
1= Some repetitive actions are required for product use.
0= Repetitive actions are required for product use.

Principle 7: Size and space suitable for the approach, use and
functionality of the product.
Visibility of various components
2= The product’s main components are clearly seen by both standing and seated users
1= The product’s main components are not clearly seen by everyone
0= The product’s main components are not clearly seen.
Accessibility of components
2= The product’s main components are easily accessible to both standing and seated users.
1= The product’s main components are not easily accessible to everyone.
0= The product’s main components are not easily accessible.
Adaptability of handles
2= The product can be used by everyone, regardless of personal proportions.
1= The product can be used by a certain number of people.
0= The product can be used by only a small group of people with limited differences.
Principle 8: Form Neutrality
Appearance of the object
2= The appearance does not, in any way, evoke products designed specifically for users with
disabilities or in poor health.
1= The appearance indirectly evokes products that have been designed specifically for users
with disabilities or in poor health.
0= The appearance plainly suggests products that have been specifically designed for users
with disabilities or in poor health.
8.3 - Threshold of overall conformity
The product designed may be considered consistent with the principles of Universal Design and
the ECA when the overall total score is not less than 40 (forty), and not less than 3 (three) for each
of the eight criteria listed in the previous section. In cases where some questions are not
applicable, however, the score must not be lower than 80% of the maximum score possible from
the remaining questions.

Projecting Friendly and Usefully: Guidelines for the Design of Consumer Goods In Keeping With the Principles of Universal Design

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