“A richer balance between problem solving and more playful explorarion could open up valuable new directions”
I really liked this reading and it really brought me a lot of interesting idea about the design of things.
First of all, when the author writes about disability and design for it, I think that the trend in this sphere that he describes is really traceble right now. He talks about glasses that made the “disability” treatment a universal accessory. Nowadays a lot of people wear glasses with no lenses or with no vision correction, and glasses are seen as a part of style. When I told my family I want some nice-looking glasses (that I wear for vision correction), my parents told me that in their childhood you would get laughed at and mocked for wearing them. And now this is a trend. I have to say that not a long while passed since their teenage, so this is really interesting how the perspective changes over the years. Additional, maybe more subtle “disability” to an extent, is teethwear. People use different things to cure their teeth/jaw, and also, I know that in my parents’ childhood it also was something people would laught at you for. Now people wear grillz, tooth gems, fashion fake braces, and this again shows how something evolved from disability to fashion.
I believe that bringing fashion and style in things like that is really important. It allows people with disabilities like that not to stand out in a bad way, it allows them to not be scared and insecure of their peculiarities. Protheses that are shaped in some beautiful forms or that are looking cool are all around now: I saw so much very cool looking leg and arm protheses on social media. However, this is also important to not cross the line: some things should kind of distinguish people with real disabilities from people who wants to be fashioable in a way just for safety reasons. It is important to know who needs some help or accomodations, and who is totally alright.
As for design simplicity, I also agree a lot with the author. I feel like most designs of technology are pretty simple but not always very accessible, especially for people with some special needs. Beside Apple, I think a lot of tech companies and developers adopt this philosophy. PS4 and PS5 are really simply designed: sleek silouhette with minimal distractions. But, such minimalism can cause a lot of confusion, where’s the buttons, how to insert the disk, how to turn it on, and how to connect the controller. It is not intuitive to someone who sees it for the first time. But the design is very simple, though I wouldn’t say it’s super accessible or universal.
On the other hand, there are devices that are not very simple but very accessible. Headphones like ones from JBL which has some icons on every button on the right side earphone: super intuitive and useful. And even like that, it is probably not the most accessible piece for left-handed people.
I think a lot of thought is needed to make the design simple, intutitve, and accessible at the same time. Even if it turns out out not to be “all things to all people”, if it “some things for some people” it is successful already. However, I think it is also worth mentioning that simplicity is not always the best choice. I think that sometimes more burdened and robust, complex designs can be both accessible and exteremely good. In the world where everything simplifies and is minimalistic it’s really important to not forget that something more pompous can be simple and accessible too.