This presentation was given November 7, 2018 to a diverse group of leaders in the offices of Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney, Australia. The group came together for a "boardroom lunch" to talk about inclusive design and the impact it can have on their organizations.

1. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
THIS NEW THING
Inclusive design is the ‘new thing’ — like agile, like innovation, like design thinking — we all want this new thing, but we use the words differently. Our integration of it into
our businesses will be different. These are the shiny ponies of the latest conference we’ve been to. I hope to convince you that Inclusive design is just good design. If
you’re doing design and you aren’t making it accessible, it is fundamentally not usable. And Inclusive Thinking is just good thinking. If you aren’t tackling ethical issues
while you’re thinking through problems, then you are contributing to the extant cycles of exclusion, or worse.

2. BEING A FIRST
who here has ever been a first?
first woman to be hired for your position?
first to go to University in your family?
first to get an MBA?
first to get the job without an MBA?
first to have a disability in your family? in your community? in your school?
first to be different in some way — some visible way, some invisible way?
first to say things aren’t ok the way they are?
first to question why we’re doing things they way we are?
first to stand up and say, this isn’t working — this isn’t enough — we deserve more?
you didn’t become leaders by being the same — you tackled some firsts to get to where you are.
<note: this talk was given the day after the USA midterm elections, Nov, 2018. I showed the number of “firsts” that were elected the day before> I showed pictures of
some of the following recently-elected officials:
First Native American congresswomen
First openly gay man elected governor
First Muslim congresswomen
First Latina congresswomen from Texas
First lesbian mom in Congress

3. BEING A FIRST
Being a first can be rough. It requires a kind of chutzpah, confidence, impatience, foresight, questioning
it’s an audacity to ask, why not?? Why can’t i? Why can’t she? Why can’t he?
it’s a kind of x-factor — it often makes you a leader. it’s often a pivotal moment in your life — a moment you can’t turn back from — a moment that can define the path
you take evermore.
it can also be a lonely place — you’re a trailblazer for sure, but you’re also alone in pushing beyond, not settling for the way things have always been.
likely pushing against the way things have always been. pushing against others’ resistance toward change (and no doubt, OFTEN, doing some of the work to help them
feel comfortable with the change) you’ve been your own personal and professional change management…
It can require a kind of critical eye — a questioning — a why can’t it be this way? why can’t I do this job? why can’t I have this opportunity? why do i have to do extra
work to even participate — why am i excluded? why am i an outlier when everyone else fits? Why the hell?
firsts are at the heart of inclusive design…

4. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
THE NEW THING
▸ what is it?
▸ why should I be interested?
▸ what has it done for others?
▸ how do you do it?
What is inclusive design? it’s a way of thinking
it’s a way of asking the tough questions about the outliers, about the ways we’ve always done things, about the haves and the have-nots — in all aspects of life. And I do
mean all. It stretches from human resources and hiring practices to company culture through to that culture manifesting in outward-facing products and services.
It’s a shift in perspective, an iterative approach to improving — it’s not a new process or protocol or framework, it’s a fundamental shift in mindset
it’s something to practice
we are practitioners of it — we are never masters — it’s available to everyone

5. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
SUCCESS STORIES: INTERNAL
▸ process change
▸ education
▸ development and design
▸ social responsibility
▸ collaboration
▸ KPIs OKRs
▸ HR / communication /
▸ Procurement
This new perspective, this new way of thinking has given groups an opportunity to improve what they’re doing. To tap into innovation, inclusion, diversity, to address gaps
in business models, etc.
This is as much about reaching untapped markets as it is about meeting unmet needs.
It’s the how we do it not the what - as the what can change
Inclusion and engagement are the same dish but presented in a different way… some may think
Thinking about value (some have used ID)
What are the barriers
internally ID applies to
process change
education
development and design
social responsibility
collaboration
KPIs OKRs
HR / communication /
Procurement

6. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
SUCCESS STORIES: EXTERNAL
▸ person-centred
▸ diversity and inclusion
▸ product usability and accessibility
▸ untapped markets — a business imperative
▸ unmet needs — diversification
▸ the changing landscape
This new perspective, this new way of thinking has given groups an opportunity to improve what they’re doing. To tap into innovation, inclusion, diversity, to address gaps
in business models, etc.
This is as much about reaching untapped markets as it is about meeting unmet needs.
It’s the how we do it not the what - as the what can change
Inclusion and engagement are the same dish but presented in a different way… some may think
Thinking about value (some have used ID)
What are the barriers
externally ID applies to
person-centred
diversity and inclusion
product usability and accessibility
untapped markets — a business imperative
unmet needs — diversification
the changing landscape

7. Deloitte university press published an article in 2013 in Australia called, “Waiter, is that inclusion in my soup? A new recipe to improve business performance” That article
has a number of metrics that show the impact Diversity and Inclusion have within companies. This chart shows the ‘uplift’ in employee engagement. It comes from that
Deloitte article. It basically shows that there is a difference btw. Diversity and Inclusion. Diversity creates a 1x uplift in employee engagement while inclusion creates an
additional uplift of 1x. That is a 2x uplift with respect to employee engagement with diversity and inclusion.
Diversity is a number — it’s the demographic data, often the superficial details about us. The number of women on your board, for example.
Inclusion is how much of your full self you bring into your work. How much of your divergent and diverse ideas, experiences, and thoughts you are able to bring. The
latter is a measure that is deeply influenced by culture, power, relationship dynamics, the ways we meet, the ways we decide, the ways we communicate and more.

8. Employment & Education
United States - $283B USD
Europe - 186B Euro
Ontario - $5B CAD
In a project within the European Commission, I worked with an Economist, Kevin Stolarick. This slide shows the influx into the economy of the following 3 countries in a
year if all people with disabilities are educated and employed.
In the USA it amounts to $283B USD
In Europe 186B Euro
In Ontario 5B CAD

9. China’s disability ‘market’
- 1.3 billion people
- $1.2 trillion annual disposable income
Friends and Family
- 2.3 billion consumers
Together they represent over $8 trillion
in annual disposable income.
Rich Donovan
http://www.rod-group.com/
Consumers that care about the disability market are increasingly directing their loyalty, and their consumer spend, to companies that demonstrate action inclusive of
people with disabilities—as employees and as customers.
They leverage learnings from PWD and elevate their unique attributes to speak to the entire marketplace. Friends and Family react strongly and emotionally to direct as
well as subtle cues that connect brands to PWD. They change their buying behaviour and 'preach' their loyalty passionately. These folks become brand ambassadors
and lifetime customers.
1Q2012 and 3Q2016, ninety-one large consumer-facing firms ran advertising including disability. Great brands are acting to incorporate PWD into their core messages
and campaigns.
China’s disability ‘market’
- 1.3 billion people
- $1.2 trillion annual disposable income
Friends and Family
- 2.3 billion consumers
Together they represent over $8 trillion in annual disposable income.
Rich just published a new book, “Unleash Different” — I suspect it has additional data in it that might be helpful in building your business case for diversity and inclusion.

10. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
WHAT IS THE DESIGN PART?
▸ everyone is a designer
▸ everyone in the organization can take an ID approach
So, what is the design part of inclusive design? We’re all designers. We might all have a couch, a lamp, and a table in our living room, but the layout, the style, the way
they work is different for all of us.
Don’t skip steps — we can do more — we can always do more… it’s why we look at our processes and practices and adopt new ways of doing things. Design thinking is
being talked about across industries as a way to do things differently. Fundamentally inclusive design thinking applies those practices and adds in the depth and breadth
of people-centred experiences in thinking deeply about what is
robust, operable, perceivable, understandable
design of space (physical, team, collaboration, cross-pollination, etc.)
design of communication
design of interactions
design of systems
design of processes
design of products and services

11. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
INTERNAL
▸ HR: hiring practices, retention
▸ professional development
▸ communication
▸ development and design teams — more technical / agile
▸ systems and processes — pipeline and service delivery
▸ procurement — tools
▸ values, mission, purpose
▸ CSR
The following are areas we’ve worked in that have enjoyed a positive impact form ID thinking, feeling, and doing
HR: hiring practices, retention
professional development
communication
development and design teams — more technical / agile
systems and processes — pipeline and service delivery
procurement — tools
values, mission, purpose
CSR

12. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
EXTERNAL
▸ products
▸ innovation
▸ differentiation
▸ future-proofness
▸ diversification
▸ perception
And the following lists areas where ID has had a positive impact externally:
usability of product
perception — how people perceive the company — loyalty, trust, how authentic and genuine you are…
competitive analysis
differentiate
customer connection
how they change the Australian landscape — how to move Australia forward?
untapped markets
unmet needs
products
innovation
differentiation
future-proofness
diversification
perception

13. INCLUSIVE DESIGN
JESS MITCHELL, SR. MGR. RESEARCH + DESIGN
INCLUSIVE DESIGN RESEARCH CENTRE, OCAD
UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, CANADA
JMITCHELL@OCADU.CA
To reach me and have further discussions about Inclusive Design and what it can do, email me at jmitchell@ocadu.ca or find me on Twitter @jesshmitchell