Inclusive Design: Empathy-led Innovation (一）

How can diversity act as a source of innovation and disruption? How can cross discipline teams understand and act on empathy to create transformational change? How can inclusive, customer-driven leadership be applied to business decisions, cultures, and processes?

A holistic design practice aims to conceive solutions that successfully address and solve fundamental needs in our everyday lives. During the conception, design and research processes, we need to ensure that we do not subconsciously limit our perspectives through personal biases. Designing products for large and global audiences require a broader spectrum of inclusion that embraces a wider range of human needs and values.

The unintentional presence of bias in the design process can manifest across different levels, and it leads to limitations in the design and to exclusion.
1. The inability at a personal level to empathize with a broad spectrum of human needs and conditions leads to unintended exclusion.
2.The lack of understanding of inclusive user scenarios leads to narrowly defined products that fail to address global human needs.
3.The lack of consideration of an inclusive product ecology at the platform level introduces systemic risks that limit its growth and universal quality.

In this workshop, the speakers will focus on both theoretical and practical aspects; introducing the core principles and methods of Inclusive Design for the conception and design of products with a global inclusive index. Taking into consideration the users’ multidimensional needs from a variety of angles we can reframe the context to be one of inclusive, and strategically drive ideas and decisions towards the desired path.

In this workshop, the participants will explore design thinking and inclusive design methods, service design, and practical applications at Microsoft. We will combine Microsoft product examples to explain the practical use of inclusive design in the product process, share how to discover new demand pain points and design opportunities, and ultimately help your design to better meet the needs of users and achieve product goals. Join us to explore your role in empowering, equipping, and motivating your team, bringing inclusive design to the forefront. The one-day experience will help participants gain a deeper understanding of both the theory and practice of Inclusive Design and its transformational influence on culture or products. Over 10,000 people at Microsoft have attended this type of workshop. This has been taught to university students around the world, most recently at New York University, Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Inclusive design 101:
1. Learn about inclusive methods and principles as a building module
2. Investigate cases from Microsoft, including:
2.1 Product - Learning tools, Xbox Adaptive Controller, Cortana Show Me, etc.
2.2 Culture - Diversified Recruitment Program, Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Training