̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - inclusive design

Talking about a revolution: 25 years of BT and Cambridge

skbf2 — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 09:24:46 +0000

Cambridge and BT have been working together for more than 25 years developing new technologies, exploring human behaviour and considering how those two things come together to shape our world.

Newly-developed image guidelines will improve mobile shopping experience worldwide

sc604 — Wed, 07 Feb 2018 02:53:29 +0000

̽��ֱ��concept, known as ‘mobile ready hero images’, was designed to make shopping for grocery products faster, by making it easier to quickly spot key information about a product, such as size, type or flavour.

For example, searching for ‘soap’ on Amazon or other retail websites will bring up hundreds of images, and most customers will scroll quickly through the list on their phone in order to find the particular item they want. However, based on product images alone, it can be difficult to quickly spot the differences between items: whether an item contains one, three or ten individual bars of soap, for instance.

“While traditional pack photographs can be effective on desktop screens, different flavours and sizes of products can look identical when these photographs are displayed on mobiles, reduced to the size of a postage stamp,” said Dr Sam Waller from Cambridge’s Engineering Design Centre, who led the project. “This is especially problematic for older consumers with age-related long-sightedness.”

To date, mobile ready hero images have been adopted by over 80 retailers in more than 40 countries. India – where 65% of all online shopping transactions take place on mobiles – has been one of the fastest countries to adopt these images.

In addition to making the mobile shopping experience easier for customers, mobile ready hero images have also been shown to have a positive impact on sales. “Magnum ice cream is one of our billion dollar global brands that has adopted hero images,” said Oliver Bradley, e-commerce director at Unilever. “During an eight-week A/B split test with a retailer, Magnum’s hero images led to a sales increase of 24%.”

In order to meet retailers’ demands for consistent product images across all brands, Unilever commissioned Cambridge to develop a website for hero image guidelines, with freely available templates to help brands create improved product images.

To date, some brands have created mobile ready hero images using the Cambridge templates, while others have developed hero images in a different way. Some retailers have chosen to accept all kinds of hero images, while others will only accept some kinds of hero images, resulting in an inconsistent experience for consumers.

GS1, a global non-profit organisation which sets standards for consumer goods, has recently established a working group to focus on mobile ready hero images.

“We spotted the opportunity to improve the current situation using our Global Standards Management Process,” said Paul Reid, head of standards at GS1 in the UK. “ ̽��ֱ��aim of the working group is to get agreement between competing brands and retailers, leading to a single, globally applicable set of guidelines for mobile ready hero images. These guidelines will help brands and retailers make the shopping experience better and more consistent.”

“Inclusive design can help improve the visual clarity of hero images, making them more accessible to a wider range of consumers,” said Waller. “In particular, our SEE-IT method can estimate the proportion of the population who would be unable to discern the important information from e-commerce images. We have joined the GS1 working group in an advisory capacity, and we are looking forward to contributing our expertise to help inform the critical decisions.

“Grocery products are just the start: we want to improve the e-commerce images used for every product, at every retailer, in every country in the world.”

Inset image: Examples of mobile-ready hero images. Walkers is a trademark owned and designed by PepsiCo and used with permission.

A new type of online product image, developed by researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge in collaboration with global consumer goods company Unilever, could improve the mobile shopping experience for the world’s 2.5 billion smartphone users.

We want to improve the e-commerce images used for every product, at every retailer, in every country in the world.

Sam Waller

Photo by Gilles Lambert on Unsplash

Man on a smartphone

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Health costs of ageing will shoot up without technological innovation

sc604 — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 14:54:09 +0000

A new report co-authored by Cambridge researchers warns that without technological innovation over the next decade, healthcare costs in the UK could be significantly higher than currently projected by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). Without productivity improvements, health spending in 2063-64 might need to be 5.0% of GDP higher than is currently projected.

̽��ֱ��report, Opportunity Knocks, has been published today by London-based think tank International Longevity Centre-UK (ILC-UK), in conjunction with the Institute of Engineering and Technology and the Engineering Design Centre at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

It points out that predictions for the growth in healthcare productivity are optimistic given historic trends, and that technological innovation will be vital to fill the gap. ̽��ֱ��authors argue that there is significant potential for responding to the challenges of ageing through new developments in wearable technologies, big data, 3D printing, cloud computing, the internet of things, and smart cities.

“Technological innovation is vital to help individuals and society as a whole adapt to ageing,” said Mike Bradley of Cambridge’s Engineering Design Centre, which pioneered the Inclusive Design approach: designing products to be useful to as many people as possible. “But there are still many barriers to be overcome.”

̽��ֱ��report suggests that a design response to ageing can also benefit the UK economy: Those over 65 spend around £2.2 billion per week and they could be spending over £6 billion per week (£312 billion per year) by 2037.

However, one in three 85-89 year olds has difficulty shopping for groceries and more than one in ten in this age group has difficulty managing money. More than half of those aged 90 and over have difficulty shopping for groceries and a quarter of this age group have difficulty managing money. Four in ten individuals over 75 and three quarters of individuals over 85 do not have internet access.

̽��ֱ��report highlights a range of ideas for new technology which emerged from a workshop organised by ILC-UK, IET and ̽��ֱ��Engineering Design Centre at ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge. ̽��ֱ��ideas are designed not as ‘solutions to ageing’ but to highlight the potential for innovation in focusing on this consumer group.

A kettle which monitors blood pressure
TV ‘buddies’ to allow people to remotely share the experience of watching a programme
A ‘cuddle cushion’ which would allow relatives being able to send each other cuddles
A smart water bottle which would prompt people to drink more to prevent dehydration
Accessible and modern ‘Boris Scooters’ (or Segways) in towns and cities to help people with mild mobility impairments get around
̽��ֱ��development of national ‘trusted information’ systems for online and telephone transactions to reduce the risk of scams

“This report champions the positive impact that technology and design will play in helping us all to live longer, healthier, independent lives. However, we acknowledge that the potential of technology has not been fully realised. We also have to dispel the myth that this is simply a matter of niche solutions for an ageing society,” said Gordon Attenborough, the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Head of Sectors.

“There’s so much more that we should achieve through the widespread application of existing and emerging technologies. It’s vital that we design and innovate with a broad range of users in mind, wholly inclusive and accessible to all. Achieve that and technology will mitigate the impending costs of an ageing society and deliver the promise it has failed to so far.

David Sinclair, Director of the International Longevity Centre – UK added: “Technology undoubtedly offers significant potential to help respond to the challenges of ageing. But the opportunity of technological innovation in this area has historically been over egged and under realised. For us to maximise the potential of new technologies however we need more evidence on what really works and whether it will save money. We need regulation which protects consumers while not preventing technological innovation. And we need industry to recognise the potential of the older consumer and design for all. Finally, we need a public debate on the challenges and opportunities of using big data to improve the lives of older people.”

Professor John Clarkson, Director of the Engineering Design Centre at Cambridge: “This report highlights that there is a huge commercial opportunity for companies to design inclusively, driving increased customer satisfaction and boosting their market share by delivering more competitive products and services.”

̽��ֱ��report also highlights some ideas to maximise the potential of the sharing economy to support our ageing society.

Cooking buddies

A barcode scanner in the home could be used to upload the contents of your fridge to an interface which would share the information with your neighbours. Taking a peek in to each other’s fridges, seeing what people had a surplus of or what was about to go out of date, could encourage neighbours to cook together making meal times more sociable.

Integrated leisure and transport

Leisure activities, such as a trip to the theatre or to a restaurant, could come with transport included. When you book a ticket there could be the option to also book transport. If a large number of people were also booking transport to an event a mini-bus could then be sent to collect them all at a much lower costs than them all booking taxis separately.

Adapted from a ILC-UK press release.

New report urges government and designers to work together to break down the barriers to innovation in order to adapt to an ageing population.

Technological innovation is vital to help individuals and society as a whole adapt to ageing

Mike Bradley

Emanuele Toscano

Generations

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Simulation tools aim to bridge exclusion gap

tdk25 — Wed, 26 Jun 2013 08:12:40 +0000

A set of gloves and glasses which simulate common physical limitations, like age-related long-sightedness or arthritis, have been released in the hope of getting more designers to think again about the usability of their products.

Researchers at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge’s Engineering Design Centre say that millions of people around the country – in particular the ageing, baby-boomer generation – have unnecessary difficulty using everyday products ranging from gadgets, to packaging, to windows and doors, because of poor design. Addressing these issues would also reduce the costs of social care.

Many baby-boomers only suffer from mild problems, such as long-sightedness or pain and discomfort in their joints. Although these issues are far from unusual, they are rarely taken into account by mainstream manufacturers, builders and designers. Their customers often find a way to “make do” despite their difficulty using the product, but would benefit from simple and inexpensive design changes.

̽��ֱ��simulation gloves and glasses, which are on sale from the inclusive design toolkit website (http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/tools), allow designers to experience these limitations for themselves, so that they can identify opportunities for design improvements that would help these 'baby-boomers'. ̽��ֱ��glasses even set a calibrated benchmark, calculated by researchers, which enables the wearer to work out if a product feature has sufficient visual clarity for 99% of the population to be able to see it.

̽��ֱ��development of the tools was led by Dr Sam Waller, an inclusive design researcher in Cambridge’s Engineering Design Centre, who studies how everyday products can be made and designed to accommodate the diverse abilities of different sectors of the population. His work builds on 10 years collaborative inclusive design research, conducted by Professors John Clarkson and Roger Coleman, and funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

“ ̽��ֱ��attitude among a lot of manufacturers tends to be: ‘If I can use it, everyone can,’” Waller said. “ ̽��ֱ��problem is that if I happen to be a typical, male designer, I may well have reasonably good vision. Everyone with better vision than me will be OK, but anyone whose vision is worse may experience frustration or difficulty.”

“What we end up with is a large group of people who have to find some way of coping with this, perhaps by asking for help, and would benefit from minor design modifications. That section of the population is largely unaccounted for, and they would benefit hugely if there was a bit more awareness and appreciation of the different levels of ability out there."

Resembling a pair of 3D specs, the simple simulation glasses can be stacked by the wearer to replicate various levels of impairment, reproducing the effects of problems such as cataracts, age-related long-sightedness, or even just having an out-of-date prescription.

Specifically, they pick up on difficulties with the size or contrast of product features that might compromise the user experience for people with moderate eyesight problems. By using them, a designer can tell if such groups will, for example, be able to pick out the power button on an electronic device, or a warning label that has been embossed on to a plastic surface. Waller argues that such problems can often be addressed without any increase in production cost. ̽��ֱ��solution can be as simple as changing the colour of the plastic used to make a power button, so that it becomes more obvious.

̽��ֱ��simulation gloves meanwhile mimic arthritis of the knuckle joints. ̽��ֱ��more the wearer tries to rotate their joints by bending their fingers, the more they stiffen up, as the plastic skeleton around the gloves puts pressure on the knuckles. They show how this mild limitation can make simple but vital tasks - like opening food packaging – unnecessarily difficult and painful.

“Our hope is that mass-market manufacturers will start using these simulation tools during the development of their products in order to better inform the decisions they make,” Waller added. “This enables competitive advantage by improving the user experience, and also reduces social care costs for our ageing society.”

̽��ֱ��simulation glasses and gloves are available now at http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/tools

For more information about this story, please contact Tom Kirk. Tel: +44 (0)1223 332300. E-mail thomas.kirk@admin.cam.ac.uk

Simulation gloves and glasses which recreate the effects of moderate impairments have been released by researchers, who say that the designers of many everyday products are frustrating millions of customers by failing to take such limitations into account.

Our hope is that mass-market manufacturers will start using these simulation tools during the development of their products in order to better inform the decisions they make.

Sam Waller

Bridging ̽��ֱ��Exclusion Gap

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

Dr Sam Waller wearing the simulation glasses and gloves.

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