The Knowledge Loop
The 'knowledge loop' (see figure below) is a representation of the necessary information flow and activities required to produce genuinely validated inclusive designs. It also reflects the wider range of participants involved in inclusive design beyond the stereotypes of the end-users only being the 'disabled and elderly' and designers being the only information-users.
As such the knowledge loop can be interpreted in a number of ways. It can be entered at any point, but we shall consider it mainly with respect to the information-users and end-users.
From the perspective of producing successful inclusive products, consider a designer, the information-user ('5') in this example, who wishes to make an accessible product. The first stage would be to acquire the necessary information about the end-users and the available inclusive design methods( '6'). The methods and data would be applied and a concept product generated ('7'). The concept needs to be verified against the specification ('8') to ensure that the product has met the stipulated functional requirements.
However, to validate the product, it is necessary to test the product with end-users ('1'). The data generated during the user trials needs to be captured ('2') and summary representations ('3') generated. Only once those summary representations are available can the product be truly validated ('4'). If the product is not successfully verified or validated, then the designer revises the concept product and begins the process again. The process is then repeated as many times as necessary until an acceptable product is generated.
From the perspective of capturing data about the end-users ('1'), the first stage involves identifying potential data capture techniques ('2') and applying those techniques to generate suitable data representations ('3'). The data generated can be verified to ensure that it is internally correct ('4') before being passed to the information-user ('5'). To validate the data generated, it is necessary to ensure that it is usable by the intended information-users, consequently the information-user has to apply the data ('6') to test it. Only by developing a product or service ('7') to meet the user aspirations and needs originally observed can the data capture methods be truly validated ('8'). As for the use of the knowledge loop to develop an acceptable inclusive product, the data capture process can be repeated until sufficient validated data is obtained.
Note that the component steps of capturing end-user data are the same irrespective of the purpose for which the data is being collected. The only differences are in the precise data that is gathered and how it is encapsulated for the information-user.
As a final note, it is important to recognise that the knowledge loop is intended for iterative application, and in practice involves many cycles of concept development and testing. In this chapter we have presented a framework, the inclusive design knowledge loop, for understanding the information flow and activities required to produce genuinely inclusive products. It can be seen from the inter-dependence of each of the steps in the figure above that only by ensuring that each of the 8 steps is successfully completed can such products be developed.