leading design consultancies create and debate design for young disabled users

The DBA Design Challenge 2000
'care for our future selves'
- At the Royal College of Art -

" Young disabled people want great consumer design too."
Jeremy Myerson, Co-Director, Hamlyn Hamlyn Research Centre.

The Royal College of Art is to host an important public forum on the design issues facing young disabled people on Wednesday 6 December at 6pm. The Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art is organising the forum called The DBA Design Challenge 2000 - 'care for our future selves' in partnership with the Design Business Association (DBA). Design can play a crucial role in improving the quality of life for disabled people. The DBA Design Challenge 2000 aims to explore this issue and consider the potential for business innovation in this field.

In the UK alone, 7.3 million people are registered as disabled. Four million of them use equipment or assistive technology to improve the quality of their lives and enhance their education and employment opportunities.

Many of these products are innovative in concept and in their use of technology. They may meet the specific clinical needs of disabled users, yet fail to address their aesthetic or lifestyle aspirations. They are engineered rather than designed and stigmatise rather than integrate, even where they are intended for use as a consumer product.

The DBA Design Challenge 2000 is a response to this situation. DBA member firms have been invited to demonstrate their skills and play a leading role in this public debate. The event follows the publication of three reports by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Audit Commission and RADAR, a leading disability organisation on the poor design of products and services for disabled people.

Roger Coleman, Co-Director, Helen Hamlyn Research Centre commented:

"These reports have all highlighted the fact that instead of usable, beneficial products, disabled people in the UK have been fobbed off with products that are inferior and demeaning. The response of the disabled community has been to consign them to a dark corner of their garage. The fact that this state of affairs has persisted so long is symptomatic of the disregard in which disabled people are held in this country in spite of the efforts of this Government to promote the concept of inclusivity. This is an area where design and the design industry can make a significant difference and the DBA Design Challenge 2000 is a direct response. We hope that this will start the debate not only in the design community but in the other constituencies crucial for progress in this area."

Four of the UK's leading design consultancies - The Renfrew Group, Priestman Goode, Factory Design and Design House have taken up the challenge. They have been working with user groups to develop innovative design scenarios focused on the aspirations of younger disabled users, identified as the one group most overlooked in all product and service categories.

The four design teams will present their prototypes at a public forum, which will include designers and the business, academic and disability communities at the Royal College of Art on Wednesday 6 December at 6pm. Lord Snowdon, Provost of the Royal College of Art, will introduce the forum, followed by a keynote speech from Dr. Kim Howells, the Consumer Affairs Minister. Ray Hodgkinson, President of the Healthcare Trades Association and Graham Corbett CBE, Chair of RICAbility (the Research Institute for Consumer Affairs) will respond to the presentations.

- ENDS -

If you would like to attend the event or need more information, please contact Anna Brenard, Press Officer, Royal College of Art On 020 7590 4127 or anna.brenard@rca.ac.uk

Or Julia Cassim, Helen Hamlyn Research Centre On 020 7590 4242 or j.cassim@rca.ac.uk

Notes to Editors:

1. The Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art

The Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art is a centre for the advancement of design research and development, which responds to social change. Its focus is 'design for our future selves' - using design to improve quality of life for people of all ages and abilities. The DBA Design Challenge 2000 is being organised as part of the Centre's Small Business Programme funded by HEFCE - Higher Education Reach-Out to Business and Community Fund. www.hhrc.rca.ac.uk

2. The Design Business Association (DBA)

The Design Business Association (DBA) was founded in 1986 when design was first recognised as a significant business sector in its own right. A non-profit making organisation, it is run by members for members, and is dedicated to representing the interests of design businesses of all disciplines. www.dba.org.uk

3. The Participating Design Consultancies:

i) The Renfrew Group a Leicester-based product development consultancy will be presenting its concepts for a Personally Compact (PC) car. Its adaptable driver interface and bodywork is based on a typical small four-wheeled body platform and can be configured to the needs of the individual driver. "From an automotive engineering view our solutions may be structurally unsound but they will serve to be proactive and encourage debate." www.rg3.com

ii)Priestman Goode a product, environmental and transportation design consultancy and winner of a clutch of international awards, is focusing on the theme of communication in its 'Sensory Web' project. Its contribution will be a computer interface to aid internet browsing and interaction by disabled users, which has the status of a mainstream consumer product. www.priestmangoode.com

iii)Factory Design, whose expertise lies in new product development, transport design and packaging has named their project 'Milkman.' It aims to offer an alternative to the standard carton of milk by proposing a cost effective and disposable pint pack that is easy-to-open, yet does not empty its contents on the user in the process. www.factorydesign.co.uk

iv)Design House will be concentrating on the design of an accessible interface for a broadband internet channel taking advantage of ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) digital line technology that allows fast Internet access and media rich web sites. "The challenge of the project will be to design the interface so that it retains credibility with all young people but has the functionality required by young disabled people." www.designhouse.co.uk