May 15, 2023
Background
This project focuses on universal design and includes a collaboration with the Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen). The collaboration entails a project involving the creation and presentation of a new artifact for the Transportstyrelsen's job recruitment service. The goal is to design this artifact with the foundation of making it accessible and equitable for all potential users, regardless of their chosen navigation system. To achieve this, various principles of universal design are analyzed and integrated into the design process.
Problem
How should universal design principles be applied to foster a more inclusive society?
How to apply this principles on a new concept for Swedish Transport Agency recruitment service
Research
Environmental Analysis
One of the initial steps was to analyze various government agency websites. This was done to identify the current issues encountered by different stakeholders and to understand the aspects where they have excelled. One of the issues that came to our attention was regarding assistive technologies. Many government websites had implemented these tools without considering how they functioned and their impact on various components within the site or the site as a whole. These tools are essential for creating flexibility in usage (Preiser & Smith, 2011, 20.3). However, for them to be truly useful, they must be implemented thoughtfully and effectively. Following these guidelines can result in increased equitable usage for everyone (2011, 20.2).
Personas
Target Audience
The target audience that the client wanted to reach included:
Recent IT graduates.
Individuals with several years of experience in IT.
Personas
To gain a deeper insight into universal design throughout the process, it was important to expand these fictional characters from an accessibility and inclusive design perspective (Universal Workplace Design, 2022, p. 17). This was achieved by assigning the fictional personas various ages, locations, backgrounds, interests, needs, pain points, and functional variations (Preiser & Smith, 2011, 5.5).
Figure 1 - Image of 6 different personas with their attributes, personality traits, and interests
Primary Persona - Helena
Figure. 2 - A picture of a woman who is the fictional persona Helena. Dressed in black with light hair and glasses on top of her head.
As the target audience was broad, selecting a specific persona to be the "primary persona" for testing a scenario proved challenging. This was because all personas had unique attributes that provided valuable insights into the design of the future artifact. The decision was made to choose the fictional character who had the most significant influence on the structure of the website based on her attributes while retaining valuable insights from the other personas for discussions about the scenario and artifact design.
The chosen persona was Helena Jädal, and below are her specific attributes:
Age
39 years old
Current Location
Luleå
Occupation
IT Project Manager
Interests
Microbrewery - beer
Socializing with friends
Always open to trying something new
Quote
"Take the bull by the horns"
Needs
Prefers to live in a vibrant city.
Enjoys an active lifestyle.
Considering a move due to tiredness from darkness.
Requires an easy-to-read feature and zooming capability.
Pain Points
Impatient.
Prone to headaches.
Tired of darkness.
Dislikes websites that don't pay attention to spelling errors in the search function.
Active on
Instagram, LOVES stories!
Functional Variation
Dyslexic.
Service Safari
Before the team created a scenario for the primary persona, individual Service Safaris were conducted. Service safari was used as a tool to gain a better understanding of how a user journey could unfold. Once this was completed, the group discussed the aspects that were positive and those that should be avoided in creating the future artifact. The results were as follows:
Result:
Positive
Develop features that add value to users.
Provide feedback to the user.
Allow users to save information for future job searches.
Despite being a government agency, a personal touch is desired.
Negative
Avoid having too many steps to view job listings.
Ensure links and buttons are clear and easily accessible.
Scenario
Helena's scenario was used as a tool to understand the behavior and motivations of potential future users. In addition to this, several touchpoints were created to understand how the system communicates with the user. The result was as follows:
Figure 3 - An image of Helena's scenario. Structured in a timeline from start to finish, with quotes divided into different categories based on what the user does, what the system does, the user's thoughts, the user's emotions, and insights in the form of quotes.
Problem Analysis
With the help of environmental analysis and the early methods used, various problems were identified. The conclusion was that the future artifact should be simple and intuitive to use (2011, 20.4). This can be achieved through the various principles of universal design. An example of this is the perceivable information principle, which states that the information presented on the artifact should inform the user in a simple and effective manner. To enhance this, information can be presented using icons, sound, and should follow a good hierarchy (2011, 20.5). Another lesson learned was that the artifact should provide tolerance for errors, such as warning the user about potential mistakes that may occur (2011, 20.6).
Design
Early in the artifact's design process, the group aimed for simplicity and ease of understanding. One way to achieve this was by minimizing text while still effectively presenting information. The goal was to reduce users' feelings of anxiety when overwhelmed by excessive text and also to cater to people with reading difficulties (Gilbert 2019, p.77). Another crucial aspect was to be consistent with links and buttons, as well as to use good contrast between the background and text.
User Testing
To ensure the various systems were functional, multiple user tests were conducted. This helped the group understand how users navigate a system and identify which tools work and which do not. Gilbert and Regine (2019, 158–159) state that testing products with people with different functional variations can increase the chances of more users adopting the product and ensure that the experience of this product is more inclusive. It's also essential to take the time to get to know these individuals and how they may use the future product or service. However, since it can be challenging to test all aspects due to the wide range of variations, they recommend categorizing them into four categories: vision, hearing, cognition, and mobility. As the group did not have access to people from all these categories, simulations were used with external tools.
Conclusion
Through this project, new concepts have been introduced, such as accessibility, universal design, and inclusive design. These concepts come with several principles, laws, and regulations that should be followed from an early stage to create a more inclusive society for everyone. This can lead to a reduction in stigmatization of various groups and benefit the general public with alternative solutions that can be more effective than what is currently offered. Furthermore, both costs and time can be reduced as these functionalities do not need to be developed afterward, which can be challenging and create complications with the existing artifact.
Feel free to try the final concept!
Click here
References
- Gilbert, Regine M. Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind, Apress L. P. 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central, Available at: [Link](http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/malardalen-ebooks/detail.action?docID=6000719)
- Universell utformning av Arbetsplatser (2022), Kunskap för framgångsrik inkludering, Available at: [Link](https://www.uua.se/media/s22byhrr/kunskap-fo-r-framga-ngsrik-inkludering-220119-6-sidor.pdf)
- Wolfgang F.E Preiser, Korydon H. Smith (2011) Universal Design Handbook. 2nd edition. New York, McGraw-Hill 2001.