There is a low uptake of inclusive design tools in industry, partly due to a poor fit between design tools and the thought and work processes of designers. Simulating visual capability losses is a technique with great potential in helping designers improve inclusivity and accessibility. However, we need to understand the needs of designers from different disciplines to improve the fit of these tools and their uptake in industry. This study aims to determine designers' needs for vision loss simulators, and how this varies between disciplines. Interviews were carried out with 15 designers from five disciplines. The results suggest that one tool is not suitable for all. The graphic and web designers interviewed required a tool to aid communication with clients, hoever, the industrial and engineering designers required two tools, depending on the stage of the design process. To increase their uptake, simulator tools should be used in education.

Capability loss simulators give designers a brief experience of some of the functional effects of capability loss. They are an effective method of helping people to understand the impact of capability loss on product use. However, it is also important that designers know what levels of loss are being simulated and how they relate to the user population. The study in this paper tested the Cambridge Simulation Glasses with 25 participants to determine the effect of different numbers of glasses on a person's visual acuity. This data is also related to the glasses' use in usability assessment. A procedure is described for determining the number of simulator glasses with which the visual detail on a product is just visible. This paper then explains how to calculate the proportion of the UK population who would be unable to distinguish that detail.

Designers often assume that their users will have some digital technological prior experience. We examined these levels of prior experience by surveying frequency and ease of technology use with a range of technology products. 362 people participated as part of a UK nationwide larger survey of people's capabilities and characteristics to inform product design. We found that frequency and self-reported ease of use are indeed correlated for all of the products. Furthermore, both frequency and ease of use declined significantly with age for most of the products. In fact, 29% of the over 65s had never or rarely used any of the products, except for digital TV. We conclude that interfaces need to be designed carefully to avoid implicit assumptions about users' previous technology use.

Methods for involving and understanding users are of key importance for effective and inclusive design. However, many of these methods have had limited uptake, due in part to a poor fit with the ways in which designers think and work. We therefore conducted a card-sorting study with twenty-one product and communications designers, examining their views of design methods in general, and user methods in particular. The study was analysed using hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis. In this paper, we present some of the initial results, describing the main categories of design methods used and discussing the designers' views of the roles of user methods in design.

Although information about users is vitally important in inclusive design, its use is often limited. The literature suggests that this is, at least in part, due to the ways in which the information is provided, which do not always match designers' needs. We therefore conducted a study to discover the information formats that designers do and do not like and use. In this paper, we draw implications for the presentation of design information, suggesting that it should be quick and easy to find and use, visual and stimulating, flexible and open-ended, and relate clearly and concretely to design issues. We also propose two categorisations of information formats and types and discuss the suitability of some specific examples of types of user information.

Numerous methods have been developed to help designers to understand and consider the needs and desires of end-users, but many have had limited uptake in design practice. In order to understand why this is and to enable the development of more effective methods and tools, it is important to uncover how designers themselves think about and react to these methods. We are therefore currently conducting a card-sorting study with designers. We aim to uncover their perceptions of underlying similarities and relationships between design methods, and relate them to the frequency and enjoyment of use. This paper presents results from an initial sample of six designers. A cluster analysis identified a very strong clustering in these results, indicating that common underlying views about methods do exist. Six key clusters are identified, including two focused on user involvement and one on understanding users without direct user contact. The effect of different method characteristics on the frequency and enjoyment of method use are also considered. Initial results indicate that certain clusters of methods are used more often, as are methods that are informal and cheap.

This paper describes a software tool that demonstrates the effects of common vision and hearing impairments on image and sound files. This helps designers to understand and empathise with the difficulties that less able users might experience when using their products and interfaces. A range of impairments and severity levels are simulated and guidance is provided on how to address some of the issues raised. The latest version of this tool will be available for demonstration at Assets.