Think of everything as a System

Don Norman, the grand old man of user experience design, introduces 4 principles of human-centered design when tackling complex global problems of the world, being one of them: “Thinking of everything as a System” or the interconnection of every actor in a chain of problems and the consequences in the future over a product.

In Accessibility, designers aim to reduce the inequalities that most people still experiment with when interacting with digital products. We live in a time where mostly 3 generations of users coexist, it’s fundamental to take into account our diversity, not only as groups but individually in the kick-off of any project, with real user personas.

Therefore, Accessibility must be part of the design process since the early research. Donald Norman states that we have to solve the underlying root causes that produce the problems and think of the consequences that we will see in the feedback loops of the future.

We could start reducing these inequalities by digging into the matter, like being closer to disabled communities, and learning as much as we can about how to improve others’ lives when they interact with our designs.

Accessibility is not a matter of using automatic filters that make checks of products. We certainly have to be in contact with information and communities, and use this in our products from the beginning, then look at the feedback loops of the future, the right problem which is inequality will be solved.