Collaboration is at the heart of the Centre’s inclusive design programme. Our research is advanced, by combining our expertise in design with that of specialists in other fields. We work with four distinct design communities and with a high level of industry, public and voluntary sector engagement. User engagement is central to our practice.
A long-standing collaboration with the Engineering Design Centre (EDC) at the University of Cambridge, has driven our work on the theory and practice of inclusive design since 2000. Three successive design research projects with EDC have involved collaborations with Design For Ability at Central St Martins; the Centre for Usable Home Technology at the University of York; Applied Computing at the University of Dundee; Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at Loughborough University, and Cambridge Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Ageing (CIRCA).
Public and voluntary sector partners include the Design Council, Scope and the RSA. Design consultancies, Wire, Alloy and Tangerine have contributed significantly to the work, and BT has become a major partner.
Knowledge transfer to the design industry is an important aspect of our work. This has been achieved through a collaboration with the Design Business Association, delivering a powerful methodology for engaging with the professional design community. Many design consultancies and voluntary sector bodies have been involved, and the programme has led to industry workshops with major companies such as Reckitt Benkiser, Nokia and Toto and also workshops bringing industry and healthcare professionals together in collaboration with the College of Occupational Therapists.
International dissemination of the programme has been achieved in collaboration with the British Council Singapore; Singapore Management University and Singapore Polytechnic; Holon Advanced Institute of Technology, Israel; and in Japan, the International Association for Universal Design (IAUD); the User Science Institute at Kyushu University, the Symbiotic Systems Lab at Kyoto University, Ritsumeikan University Kyoto and disability organisation Tanpopo no ye.
Knowledge transfer to industry has been achieved through the Helen Hamlyn Research Associates Programme at the Royal College of Art. This programme, which allows companies to explore the benefits of an inclusive design approach through practical projects has resulted in over 50 industry, public and voluntary sector collaborations, including B&Q, GSK, Toyota, BT, Ideal Standard, Osaka Gas, Thorn, Visteon, MFI, Philips, NHS National Patient Safety Agency, Guide Dogs, British Heart Foundation.
Enabling young designers to engage with inclusive design is especially important as the Royal College of Art is a leading teaching institution with a 90 per cent plus success rate in professional placement for its graduates. Our goal is to ensure that coming generations of designers are aware and informed about social change and understand how to design inclusively.
This is achieved through an awards scheme at the Royal College of Art called Design for our Future Selves. Sponsoring organisations include: Big Idea, CABE, Future Foundation, Help the Aged, Mobility Choice, GMW Architects, Nottingham Rehab Supplies, Ossur, and the Retail Trust. We are also involved in the RSA Design Directions programme, supporting the Inclusive Worlds brief.
User involvement is central to inclusive design, providing not just insight into users lives and the diversity of today’s society, but also as a source of inspiration and empathic engagement. The HHC user collaboration network includes: University of the Third Age (U3A), Age Concern, Hearing Concern, Down’s Syndrome Association, Villiers High School, Alzheimer’s Society, Stroke Association, National Osteoporosis Society, Different Strokes, SCOPE, Headway, and the British Computer Association of the Blind.
