Inclusive Design is DesignOps
Summary
Inclusive Design is a process, it is how we design. Adopting inclusive design means changing how we work, in our projects and in our everyday work habits. In the beginning it might be accidental, while at its best it is intentional and has operational support. Learn how we are making progress in our journey towards Inclusive Design at Intel. From the public goal that all user experience teams will be adopting inclusive design, to the real talk and challenges that happen within a team where everyone agrees with the goal, but they don’t know how to start.
Key Insights
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Inclusive design is most effective when intentional from the start, not accidental during research or development.
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The question to ask is not who to include, but who is being excluded in the design process.
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Intel developed an inclusive design maturity model with phases: nothing, awareness, adopting, realizing, and exceptional.
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Achieving a tipping point of 25% of UX teams in the realizing phase could normalize inclusive design across Intel.
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Most designers feel they understand and care about inclusion but lack time and knowledge to act on it, showing a head-heart-hands gap.
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Secondary inclusive research and bite-sized frameworks help busy designers build baseline understanding of excluded communities.
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An inclusive design card deck was created to educate teams about diverse communities and prioritize research and design focus areas.
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Inclusive design tools and workshops (e.g., sticky notes, sharpies) can unintentionally exclude people with disabilities or processing differences.
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Scaling inclusive design can be supported by making design systems accessible by default and sharing inclusive practices broadly.
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Meaningful inclusion requires ongoing public goals, continuous team check-ins, and involving people with disabilities as collaborators, contractors, or full team members.
Notable Quotes
"Who are we excluding? That is the better question to ask when talking about inclusive design."
"Inclusive design and research is a process; it happens on a spectrum from accidental to intentional."
"Nothing about us without us – we need to involve people with disabilities throughout research, design, and testing."
"We want everyone adopting these inclusive design and research practices—not just a few advanced teams."
"Most designers feel they understand and care, but many aren’t doing much yet—there’s a disconnect between head, heart, and hands."
"We needed a framework to know what we don’t know and prioritize secondary inclusive research."
"Our card deck helps give us respectful language and bite-sized info to engage with different communities."
"Design methods we love, like sticky notes, aren’t accessible to everyone and can exclude some people."
"You have to repeat your message about inclusion multiple times before people really hear it and change happens."
"Don’t be ideal. Do better. Start by making a public goal to create accountability and internal conversations."
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