Barrier-free design - universal design

In 1974, at the UN meeting of experts on “The Living Environment for People with Disabilities”, the concept of “barrier-free design” was proposed. It refers to the elimination of Barrier Free (Barrier Free). The "user" referred to here originally refers to people with physical disorders. Later, the concept of “handicapped” was expanded. It also included pregnant women, children and the elderly, as well as people with heavy loads or injuries, and even temporarily inconvenienced people, the so-called The Handicapped Person. ). For example, when a handless person faces a package that cannot be opened without power, the hard-to-open package becomes an obstacle for him, and the design that makes it easy to open is “barrier-free design”. Another example is that the plain text on the product packaging indicates that for an illiterate or poorly-viewed person, it constitutes an obstacle to understanding and using the product, enabling them to design without barriers.
Barriers are generally divided into four types: There are two main categories related to packaging:
1, physical barriers: such as weight, volume, height, length, time and other obstacles. For packaging, its opening is difficult and not easy to use is a physical barrier.
2, information barriers: such as visual, auditory, olfactory, inform, taste, touch and other obstacles. As we all know, 80% of information is obtained visually. Therefore, if the user is difficult to obtain information on the packaging, such as signs, instructions for use, and precautions, it constitutes an information barrier. In this regard, people often increase the printed text and enhance the contrast between the text and the background to obtain a clearer communication of the information printed on the package.
Later on this basis, the term "Universal Design" emerged. It was first proposed by the American architecture and industrial designer Ronald Mace in the 1980s. He defined "general design" as the design and creativity of a product or service that can be easily used by anyone regardless of constitution, age, and any obstacles. It can be said that generalized design is a further extension of barrier-free design. It is compatible with the requirements and expectations of “ease of use” of products and services for people with disabilities and accessibility. He has entered seven principles for universal design:
1. Everyone can use it easily 2. Feel light and flexible when using it 3. Can be used with simple intuition 4. Have information for the user to understand the product 5. Tolerance for wrong use 6. Physical strength The burden is small 7. With the required space and size, it can be seen that in the universal design concept, the concept of "ease of use" is particularly emphasized. Before the concept of "barrier-free design" and "universal design" appeared, it was already a recognized ergonomics term in the field of industrial product design. There are some subtle differences in the “usefulness” of a product that makes it very convenient for a person to have multiple functions. “Easy to use” mainly refers to the degree of physical and mental burden that is paid when using the product. The less you need to pay (such as easy to understand how to use it and how to use it, how easy it is, etc.), the higher the “easiness” is. Therefore, the wider the applicable class of people is. In accordance with this principle, a design with a high degree of "ease of use" is applicable not only to the general party crowd without any obstacles in daily life, but also to the crowd and some inconveniences in everyday life, but there are some inconveniences. There is no big difficulty in life. Such as the elderly and those with minor physical disabilities, and special people with special requirements, such as those who believe in various religions.
So how do you evaluate the ease of use of packaged products? The following are the main considerations.
1, easy to identify. It is clear at a glance what the contents of the package are and will not be misidentified. The content that users must understand must be very eye-catching.
The information on the product can be easily identified by printing appropriate colors, sizes, patterns, marks, etc. on the package, such as the color of the contents, the type of the packaged goods, the characteristics, the period of use, and the material texture of the package itself. Wait. In this regard, it is possible to improve the recognition performance by increasing the degree of contrast of printed text, patterns, and backgrounds. For example, in order to identify the aluminum foil packaging container, embossing is used to emboss a prominent image or text on the side of the packaging bag, and the nature of the packaging can be known upon touching. Some also show the characteristics of the contents through the different shapes of the container lid, such as the shading of soy sauce.
2, easy to open. Openings can be easily identified by visual or tactile sensations, such as signs printed on the unsealed area, such as text or arrows, or open notches on the package that can be inserted into the fingers. The opening method is simple and easy. It should open the package without difficulty. Can be unsealed with one hand or opened with a small amount of force. For example, non-slip zig-zag markings on the lid of containers can be made, and the size of the opening knob of the cans can be appropriately increased. It is best not to require special opening tools. Open and re-close, and try to meet people's open habits. It is easy to put contents in and out, and the opening for taking out contents should be as large as possible.
3, easy to control. The container is required to be non-slip, such as a palm-like groove in the outer wall of the container, or a rugged engraving. It is also better to use materials with low heat transfer capabilities.
4, easy to dispose of after disposal. For example, the classification, folding, shrinkage and easy decomposition of waste are facilitated.
5, easy to measure. The desired contents can be quantitatively removed by one-handed squeezing or shaking.
6, will not hurt. Avoid hurting people due to heat transfer, too smooth or sharp. It does not make people mistakenly drink items that are mistaken for food packaging.
7, beautiful performance. The appearance and pattern should give people a comfortable aesthetic feeling, not annoying and creating an unpleasant association. Special consideration should be given to the requirements and taboos of different religious beliefs.