Defining Populations
The whole population is often thought of as the 'target' population for the product. However, that is a very simplistic view. In reality, there will be certain limits on the number of people who may wish to use the product. A number of Populations can be considered when designing:
Target Population
At no point in the above definitions is the 'target' population referred to, because there are so many options to which it can be mapped. For example, the whole population is the utopian target solution, the ideal population is the best that can be achieved and the negotiable maximum may be what a product designer is happy to reach. Consequently the concept of a target population is difficult to specify without a clear understanding of who is defining the 'target' population and what definition is being used.
One possible 'target' population that may be of interest is the intended (sales) target population. We can add this to the above Whole-Ideal-Negotiable-Included (WINI - see below) categorisation, but with caution because it is an arbitrary definition, dependent upon the choices of the company management. For example, the intended target population could be particular age groups such as the over-75s, or particular marketing stereotypes or socioeconomic groups.
The intended target population will often be defined based on the whole or maybe the ideal populations only. Its size and composition is independent of the negotiable maximum and included populations.
WINIT
We shall refer to these five populations as WINIT (WINI + Target) and use them to form the basis of measures of success for inclusive design, i.e. the inclusive merit.