Universal Design: Website Under Construction

The Universal Design Resource website is undergoing revision! When created, my intention was to raise awareness and provide information. For the revision, I have structured a tiered approach: First is a facelift using today’s technology making it easier for you to participate by either finding what you are looking for or by submitting your own material. Universal design is not so much a destination but rather a dialogue; the new UDR website will support that. Second will be networking opportunities similar to Facebook and Linkedin. The final tier will be a wiki-style knowledge base. In all levels of development, I will strive to meet the needs you expressed in the survey (which you can still respond to).

Here’s a quick glimpse of UDR Version 2.0:
--- More and better organized material for those who are researching universal design for their projects including internal search engine.
--- Focus on meeting the needs of professionals.
--- Courses, links, photos, hot topics & news and problem/solution forums.
--- Professional networking opportunities; marketing, codes, database.
--- Reading lists and resources.
--- Clean, intuitive look.

UDR website has an expected launch in late July. Until then, keep the feedback coming through comments at this blog, the survey and UDR email.




Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
May 7, 2009
Universal Design Resource
Universal Design Network at Facebook and LinkedIn

Universal Design: “Time” To Do It Right, Part II

On the April 13th post, I looked at the impact of time on design. Five hundred words were insufficient. I have since expanded the article and given it as a brief speech. Below is an abstract followed by links to the video and the article itself.

Abstract:
Time was measured by nature until late 13th century when machines began to successfully measure time. Since then, time has marched forward measuring shorted intervals and with greater accuracy. We now measure attoseconds, one quintillionth of a second. The impact on design is a shift from qualifying it by some other measure such as scale, to doing in on time. For new and beneficial results in design, we need new measures, and, we need to turn off the clock.

The Impact of Time on Design (YouTube)
“Time” To Do It Right (PDF)



Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
April 30, 2009
Universal Design Resource
Universal Design Network at Facebook and LinkedIn

Universal Design: The 8th Principle, Part I

An eighth principle would be a welcome and needed entry to the brilliant seven as created in 1997 by the North Carolina State University’s Center for Universal Design. Rather than only define the environment of a user, this eighth principle would address perception; those shared by the observer and the observed. How do we see others and how do they see us? Can we build in a way that levels the perceptual playing field in which all players are seen as equal?

I was recently asked if the New York City subways should be cleaner. As a life long resident of New York, I balked at this absurd notion. I adore our grittiness. This is my rough, nasty and harsh city and nobody is supposed to clean it up. A grimy subway was normal and it was a stable measure of our urban humanity. If you showed up dirtier than the subway, you were really a mess. If you took a few minutes to clean up, you were already better than most. And if you dressed sharp, you were king – something to be looked at and admired. That’s me; I like to look good. The subway made me look good with little effort. Clean it up and my habits and standards would appear to be lower. Pretty silly, eh? But don’t we all play such silly games? You have a look; it’s your look. You like and maintain that look. You measure how you look against how others look; you make judgments of yourself and of others. You wear sweaters or jackets; buttoned shirts or t-shirts. They are reflections of your identity and they are the image you wish to project; cloths make the man.

But suppose one morning you woke up, slumbered over to your closet and discovered not a stitch of familiar cloths. In your closet were cloths that were the wrong color, the wrong material, the wrong look and fit. Now what? You can’t go out naked so you dress with what’s there. You head out into a world completely unsure of yourself. Everything is wrong. You don’t fit in. Friends all wonder what happened to you. People react differently, better or worse. How you see yourself and how others see you has been altered simply by cloths different from those you would normally wear.

This example of dress is a metaphor for the design of our homes, cities and products and how we “fit” in them. If we feel comfortable, the experience is positive, if not, the experience is negative – it all goes wrong and we feel as if we are not seen, heard or understood. The judgments we naturally make are awry; we feel judged by ourselves and by others.

The eighth principle would acknowledge the importance of equal perception. A universally designed environment would be like familiar cloths and would support positive perceptions by others and of ourselves. We would appear and feel equal as we face daily challenges. There would be no moments when an environment or product puts us in a place where we are perceived as different.

Come back next week for part II of the 8th Principle.



Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS
March 20, 2009
Universal Design Resource
Universal Design Network at Facebook and LinkedIn
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Universal Design: The Three Little Boomers

Once upon a time there were three little boomers and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. Before they left, their mother told them, "Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that's the way to get along in the world."

The first little boomer built his house out of straw because it was the easiest and cheapest thing to do.

The second little boomer built his house out of sticks. This was a more expensive and beautiful house but lacked any amenities for later in life.

The third little boomer built his house out of bricks. This was a house for all the years of one’s life; it would never fail to keep its inhabitants happy and secure.

One night, big bad father time, who dearly loved to eat boomers, came along and saw the first little boomer in his house of straw. He said "Let me in, Let me in, little boomer or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," said the little boomer.

But of course big bad father time did blow the house in and so burdened the little boomer with no place to live.

Then big bad father time came to the beautiful house of sticks.

"Let me in, let me in little boomer or I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," said the little boomer. But big bad father time blew that house in too, and meanly forced little boomer into assisted living in a far away city where costs were lower.

Big bad father time then came to the house of bricks.

"Let me in, let me in," cried the big bad father time. "Or I'll huff and I'll puff till I blow your house in!"

"Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," said the oldest boomer. Well, big bad father time huffed and puffed but he could not blow down that brick house. But big bad father time was a sly old man and he climbed up on the roof to look for another way to get at the older boomer.

The older boomer saw big bad father time climb up on the roof and prepared; he lit a roaring fire in the fireplace and on it placed a large kettle of water.

Big bad father time found the chimney and crawled down. KER-SPLASH! Into the kettle of boiling water he fell! That was the end of big bad father time.

The next day the older boomer invited his mother over. She said "You see it is just as I told you. The way to get along in the world is to do things as well as you can." Fortunately for that older boomer, he had learned that lesson. And he just lived happily ever after!


Konrad Kaletsch
February 18, 2009
Universal Design Resource
Universal Design Network at Facebook and LinkedIn
Take the 10-question survey!

Universal Design: The Wooden Plate

Long ago there lived a happy family in the foothills of the Pyrenees. They raised livestock in the hills, mostly sheep and pig, and went into town once a week to trade their meats for supplies. The grandfather, too old for work, stayed in the home and helped care for his little grandson. The father toiled long days in the fields while the mother maintained order in the home. As the years passed the grandfather became increasingly difficult; at dinner he often pushed his plate off the table and grumbled about circumstances.

Grandfather’s behavior became increasingly disruptive at mealtime, causing frequent messes and much broken crockery. The father, tired after his long days sought easy ways to improve the situation and restore peace to the evening meal. The solution was to move grandfather to a different table far away from the family and to serve him dinner on a wooden plate. In a way, peace was restored. The young boy, observing the new family order, spent the next days with carving knife and a piece of wood. The father took notice of the boy’s project and watched with pride seeing his son so focused and determined. The father asked the son what it was that he was making. The son said, “This will be a wooden plate for you Papa when you are old.”

The father understood and brought grandfather back to the family table. Although mealtime wasn’t always smooth, it was understood that caring for Grandfather was more than pushing him away when he became inconvenient.


Konrad Kaletsch
February 13, 2009
Universal Design Resource
Universal Design Network at Facebook and LinkedIn
Take the 10-question survey!

Universal Design: The Future

Survey: Making UDR Better

Read 100 books on future trends and two themes emerge: China once again becomes the dominant power (weren’t they always except for the last few centuries); and, Web 2.0 will change everything. So, wouldn’t you buy stock in a social networking company based in China?

Our bias in life favors the rear view mirror and makes it much larger than the windshield we use to peer at the road ahead. Looking back, with all its nostalgic overtones, certainly feels more predictable and assuring. But the reality is that the windshield is much bigger than the mirror, as it should be, if we are to make strategic and successful choices for our future. Universal Design Resource, seated in the driver’s seat, peers eagerly at the road ahead. On the passenger seat lies an open map. On it, a red line indicates the planned route. But, a few mysteries along the way mean stopping and asking strangers for help (I hope you appreciate the old-school travel metaphor).

As Universal Design Resource embarks on a major revision, some things are mapped and others are stops where we ask for directions. Presently, we have a survey posted and are asking you to help a stranger. Your few minutes will be a great contribution to Universal Design Resource reaching a destination that serves you better in the near future. Please follow this link to an anonymous 10 question survey (as a bonus, you’ll discover a great company, SurveyMonkey).

Survey: Making UDR Better

Thanks in advance for your generosity and neighborlyness.


Konrad Kaletsch
January 8, 2009
http://www.universaldesignresource.com/

Universal Design: You Are The Expert

Let me ask an expert…

We attribute expertise to one who has extensive training and experience. It is someone with comprehensive and authoritative knowledge. They have skills gained from years of practice. We defer to them for answers and guidance.

When it comes to universal design, the definition of expert applies to you; you are the expert. Routines repeated around your home over many years have bestowed you with these credentials. What takes you beyond the beyond is a depth of individualized research and a profound familiarity with your subject, you. You’ve been adjusting your environment to work as best as it can; there is hardly another expert out there that knows more than you. How is it that you became this expert?

You unknowingly became an expert by the very attributes that make you unique. What works for you doesn’t always work for someone else. Someone with great physical strength uses force; genius uses intelligence. What emerges is that the variety of human ability is infinite. It is variety that is normal, not some standard that there is a normal. Let’s start with 1000 people and sort out who is normal: If our first filter is average height, we quickly reduce the number of “normal” people in our survey down to a few hundred. Our next filter, average weight, reduces our “normal” people further. Let’s have one more filter, age. Now we have a handful of people that constitute normal based on just three filters! If we build for this “normal” person we are in fact building for a very few people leaving the other 900 to bend lower, reach higher, and in other ways force their bodies to work in ways that don’t feel normal (a few won’t be able function at all).

A normal person doesn’t really exist yet we design as if they do. Primary work stations such as kitchens still have a one size-fits-all approach. This leaves many unable to use parts because they are too high, too low, too dark, too heavy, etc. You adapt your kitchen as best as possible to work for you.

If we shift the focus from an expert over there to the expert in you, your contribution matters greatly, yet, there is no place for your experience to be recorded; there is no place where you and other experts can collectively design a better kitchen. Until that opportunity exists, some guy in front of a computer fishing for statistics will design for a “normal” person hoping to sell as many products as possible at the lowest cost.

Universal Design Resource is developing a new web experience where your collective knowledge is brought into forums, discussions and blogs where the best solutions can emerge and guide those that design and fabricate our products and environments. Our launch is in early 2009.

Konrad Kaletsch
November 19, 2008

Universal Design: AARP's Life@50+

I would like to say that a conspiracy took place – at least there’s intention and action in a conspiracy.

At this year AARP Life@50+ annual convention in Washington DC, twenty-five thousand attendees left knowing as much about universal design as when they walked in (nearly none). I really doubt that this was AARP’s intention; perhaps, in all the excitement of pushing product and keeping the 50+ crowd entertained, it just was overlooked.

After walking miles of convention floor for endless hours, I was amazed by the complete absence of universal design as knowledge. There are a number of advocacy organizations, but none had a booth. Not the Center for Universal Design at NCSU, not Adaptive Environments from Boston, not TRACE from Wisconsin, not Universal Design Alliance, not IDEA at SUNY Buffalo, not Concrete Change, not the National Aging in Place Council, not the National Association of Home Builders and their CAPS (Certified Aging in Place) program nor the National Council on Independent Living, and, none of the manufactures or retailers who are committed to universal design such as Toyota, Lowes, Toto, Humanscale, or General Electric. Nothing. Not even a handout.

Here’s what could be at Vegas@50+ next year: Let’s start with a Universal Design Pavilion (pavilions is how AARP clusters exhibitors by theme). The intention is that all attendees leave knowing at least enough about universal design to acquire it when they want it. This would be supported by handouts, including one in the bag you get when you register, strong visual presence at the UD pavilion itself, interactive displays, additional resources and handouts, workshops, membership drives among the advocacy groups, surveys (data mining to further understand what it takes to create universal design communities), and opportunities for manufacturers to display their commitment to products that support the independent lifestyle that you love. In addition, it would be great to see a celebrity personality give universal design a bit of pizzazz, some wow-ness.

At the core of this endeavor would be Universal Design Resource, and its president, Konrad Kaletsch, providing the leadership necessary for the fulfillment of this expanded awareness. It is easy to imagine the 75,000 attendees, now knowledgable about universal design, telling friends over the following year. If they each have 14 conversations about universal design, one million lives improve as a result. Pretty neat.