Designing for people with disabilities is often considered an “edge case” in product development. But in our work as accessible user experience specialists, we gain rich insights from partnering with people with disabilities to understand a problem space and identify solutions. In fact, we sometimes wonder whether UX work might be most effective if we focused only on people with disabilities. And extending this thought, what if we prioritized edge cases more generally in our UX research and design? How might this help us to create a more flexible, sensitive design that addresses core business goals?

In this workshop you will learn how to use principles of inclusive user research and accessible user experience to focus product design on creating humane products.

We will cover the following topics:

• The potential role of edge cases in product development
• How focusing on accessibility can improve UX
• The practicalities of involving people with disabilities in user research
• Methods for integrating accessibility into product development processes

The workshop will use active learning methods to ensure participants gain understanding and skills, including demos, brainstorming, design studio methods, and prototyping.

Participants will gain:

• Appreciation of the benefits of focusing on accessibility in product design
• Practical experience with a range of inclusive research methods
• The practicalities of involving people with disabilities in user research
• Practice turning research insights into design decisions that benefit everyone

Workshop participants should have some experience in UX research and design. Familiarity with accessibility requirements is beneficial, but not required.