Understanding of the Concept of Universal Design among Overseas and Japanese Institutions and Manufacturers

1. Abstract The concept of Universal Design is being applied to a variety of fields, such as architecture, product design and communication. The underlying reasons for this recent tendency are the rapid evolution of an aging society and increase in the demand of people with disabilities for the improvement of their civil rights. The present study tried to identify how the overseas and Japanese institutions and manufacturers understand and apply the concept of universal design. The intention is to establish the critical steps for creating and redesigning the product that could be used by people of all ages and abilities. For case studies, we delivered some questions to 7 universal design institutions in the United States and 4 of them replied including the well known, The Center for Universal Design and Adaptive Environments. In Europe, the same questions were delivered to 15 institutions and 6 answered them. Furthermore, in Japan, the most famous Japanese manufacturers which are applied the universal design concept were visited. We carried out several interviews within TOYOTA, PANASONIC, and TOTO out of 8 manufacturers were contacted. The proposed questions focused on the definition of universal design term and its design process. The results of the survey revealed the followings: 1. In the United States and Japan, there is no difference between the aim of Universal Design (UD) term and the aim of other terms, such as, Inclusive Design (ID). But in Europe and particularly in England, the definition and the aim of UD and ID are different. 2. The design process of UD product which is suggested and applied by the former institutions and manufacturers is as follows: a) Collect data about the user and the product environment b) Identify the user’s needs and problems c) Analyze user’s tasks and goals d) Create/Redesign e) Test and evaluate for usability