Brands spent decades creating their marketing and messaging for a very specific “target consumer” who was thoroughly researched and carefully researched.
This ideal customer aligns with company values and is a loyal buyer of company products or services.
However, the “average consumer” has disappeared.
Modern times have eliminated the notion of customizing entire marketing strategies and product designs to a “target market”. So how can brands adapt their traditional practices to the global market?
Inclusion design is the solution.
More than a Trend
Although the inclusive design might sound like a trendy buzzword, it is here to stay. Inclusion design is based on universality and accessibility, which flips the notion of the average user. Instead of focusing solely on a specific consumer group, inclusive design takes into account the many people who may visit a company’s website to use its products, services, and technology, or visit its shop.
It is important to ensure that everyone can access and enjoy the entire company’s online presence.
Inclusive design aims to make it possible for consumers to access a wide range of products and services regardless of their gender, sexual identity, ability, language, culture, age, or gender. The inclusive design recognizes the needs of users and aims to provide high-quality products and services that can be used by a wide range of people. This new design concept ensures that no user is left behind.
Inclusive Design: The Benefits
Inclusion design recognizes that there are no two users alike. It is about growing to include all users. Traditional design models, without even knowing it, have often excluded certain groups from the consumer market by not taking into account their needs.
It’s not just a good idea to include accessibility and inclusion in your brand’s branding. This will make your product or services more accessible to a wider audience. There are two benefits.
Your social media videos can be captioned or subtitled. This will allow your videos to reach people who cannot or won’t turn on sound. You’ll be inclusive of those who are hard of hearing or deaf. This is not all. Captions can improve SEO. Google cannot view your video content but can crawl your captions to rank your video according to the keywords in the caption text.
Incorporating Inclusivity
Although the inclusive design is making a lot of headway in today’s market, many brands are still waiting to act. Why is this? Perhaps they don’t know where or how to begin. It’s not easy to make a conscious decision to be inclusive in your design. But it is possible. Two steps can help you make this positive change.
Building a strong team is the first step. This team must be diverse. A curated team that includes people from different backgrounds, such as age, language proficiency, nationality, ability, sexual orientation, gender, political preference, and so on, will allow your brand to see the world through a different lens. Your brand will benefit from the right team to bring about positive change.
Your diverse audience should be involved in the transition to inclusive design. In the past, your brand’s marketing and design plans were based on a well-researched and defined ideal audience. Now it is time to do the same thing but with an excluded audience. Listen to what they have to say and create a plan for how to reach your larger audience.
Moving forward
Your brand will find it both challenging and rewarding to take these first steps towards inclusive designs. This approach doesn’t only work for people with disabilities and impairments. Your brand’s products or services will be used and interpreted differently by each individual.
Your goal is to make your brand accessible to as many people as possible. As we age, grow, mature, and age, so will our abilities. Got reading glasses? The internet will change the way you interact with it. Have you recently had surgery on your hands? Even if it is for a brief time, your way of using products will change.
Designers can create solutions that take into account all backgrounds and abilities, creating a more inclusive, fair, and accessible world. This new space allows brands to be a safe place where people feel valued, accepted, and welcome.
It’s time to get on board!
Your brand has the perfect opportunity to include more products and services. Although this isn’t an easy task, it’s not impossible.
