Educating for complexity in inclusive design: from products to service systems

Abstract

Inclusivity is the explicit and ultimate aim of Inclusive Design. Although the field continues to develop, it remains heavily influenced by product design logic and practices. Drawing on current discussions on how to educate designers for real-world challenges, we argue that Service Design offers a complementary knowledge set that supports novice inclusive designers in engaging with increasingly complex design problems. To this end, we describe how a Service Design workshop was introduced into an ongoing inclusive design project. The participants’ self-reported experiences were captured throughout and results show the workshop’s impact in five key aspects: re-framing the problem-solution space; encouraging a new design logic; challenging a heuristic approach to designing by systematising the process; shifting views on disability from individual to structural and systemic levels; and its effectiveness for student learning. We discuss how these findings have direct implications for building capacity to address increasingly complex design problems and for the future of Inclusive Design education.