Abstract
Inclusive design has emerged as a vital concept under the orientation of "human-centered" approaches. With the growing imperative of sustainable development, the scope of inclusive design has gradually expanded into a broader framework of "humanity-centered" practices. From a relational perspective, inclusive design can be understood through four paradigmatic dimensions: the relationship between humans and products, between humans and others, between humans and the environment, and between humans and themselves. On one hand, human-centered inclusive design primarily focuses on the relationship between people and products, and interpersonal care, emphasizing how design products meet human needs and how individuals engage in collaboration and sharing. On the other hand, humanity-centered inclusive design extends to two additional dimensions: the relationship between humans and the environment, and the relationship between humans and themselves. These dimensions advocate for designers to demonstrate environmental responsibility and to cultivate their own capacity for empathy and care. Design paradigms guide both the thinking and actions of designers. The four design matrices proposed herein aim to help designers engage in more comprehensive and systematic reflection and practice. This study selects eight representative cases from China to elaborate, from multiple perspectives, on the value and impact of the four paradigms of inclusive design.
Keywords
Inclusive design; Design paradigms; Human-centered design; Humanity-centered design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.191
Citation
Jiang, Y.,and Zhou, Y.(2025) The Paradigm Shift of Inclusive Design., IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taipei, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.191
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 1 - More Than Human-centered Design
The Paradigm Shift of Inclusive Design
Inclusive design has emerged as a vital concept under the orientation of "human-centered" approaches. With the growing imperative of sustainable development, the scope of inclusive design has gradually expanded into a broader framework of "humanity-centered" practices. From a relational perspective, inclusive design can be understood through four paradigmatic dimensions: the relationship between humans and products, between humans and others, between humans and the environment, and between humans and themselves. On one hand, human-centered inclusive design primarily focuses on the relationship between people and products, and interpersonal care, emphasizing how design products meet human needs and how individuals engage in collaboration and sharing. On the other hand, humanity-centered inclusive design extends to two additional dimensions: the relationship between humans and the environment, and the relationship between humans and themselves. These dimensions advocate for designers to demonstrate environmental responsibility and to cultivate their own capacity for empathy and care. Design paradigms guide both the thinking and actions of designers. The four design matrices proposed herein aim to help designers engage in more comprehensive and systematic reflection and practice. This study selects eight representative cases from China to elaborate, from multiple perspectives, on the value and impact of the four paradigms of inclusive design.