Designing for Marketplace Access: A Capability Approach for Inclusive Consumer Experiences

Why It Matters

This perspective shifts focus from individual limitations to societal and market structures that create exclusion. By understanding what capabilities individuals need to thrive, designers can create more equitable and accessible products, services, and environments.

Key Finding

The research suggests that current market designs often create barriers for people with disabilities, and a new approach focusing on enabling their capabilities is necessary for true inclusion.

Key Findings

• Marketplace exclusion of individuals with disabilities is often rooted in systemic barriers rather than individual deficits.
• A Capability Approach provides a framework to identify and address these barriers by focusing on what individuals are able to do and be.
• Transformative approaches to marketplace access are needed to ensure equitable opportunities and enhance well-being.

Research Evidence

Aim: How can a Capability Approach inform the design of marketplace access to enhance well-being and reduce exclusion for individuals with disabilities?

Method: Conceptual analysis and framework development

Procedure: The paper conceptually analyzes the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in marketplace access through the lens of the Capability Approach, proposing a framework for transformative change.

Context: Consumer markets and accessibility for individuals with disabilities

Design Principle

Design should empower individuals by enabling their core capabilities, fostering autonomy and well-being within all market interactions.

How to Apply

When designing any consumer-facing product or service, consider the 'capabilities' it enables or hinders for users with diverse needs, particularly those with disabilities.

Limitations

This is a conceptual paper and does not present empirical data from user testing or specific design interventions.

Student Guide (IB Design Technology)

Simple Explanation: Think about what people with disabilities can *do* and *be* when you design things, not just what they can access. This helps make sure your designs really help them achieve their goals.

Why This Matters: Understanding the Capability Approach helps you design more holistically, ensuring your solutions are not just functional but also empowering and inclusive for all users.

Critical Thinking: How does focusing on 'capabilities' differ from traditional user-centered design, and what are the potential challenges in operationalizing this approach in practical design projects?

IA-Ready Paragraph: This design project adopts a Capability Approach to understand user needs, focusing on enabling desired 'functionings' and 'beings' rather than merely addressing functional requirements. By analyzing how the proposed design enhances user capabilities, it aims to create a more inclusive and empowering user experience.

Project Tips

• When researching user needs, ask about their aspirations and what they want to achieve, not just their limitations.
• Consider how your design might enable or restrict a user's ability to participate fully in society or achieve personal goals.

How to Use in IA

• Use the Capability Approach to frame your user research, focusing on user aspirations and the 'functionings' they wish to achieve.
• Analyze how existing products or systems might limit these capabilities and use this as a justification for your design interventions.

Examiner Tips

• Demonstrate an understanding of user goals beyond basic task completion.
• Show how your design contributes to user well-being and autonomy.

Independent Variable: Marketplace design features and policies

Dependent Variable: User capabilities, well-being, and marketplace access

Controlled Variables: Individual user characteristics (e.g., specific disability type, socio-economic background)

Strengths

• Provides a holistic framework for understanding user needs beyond functional requirements.
• Emphasizes empowerment and well-being as key design outcomes.

Critical Questions

• What are the ethical considerations when designing for 'capabilities'?
• How can designers effectively measure the impact of their designs on user capabilities?

Extended Essay Application

• Investigate how a specific industry (e.g., fashion, technology, public transport) can adopt a Capability Approach to improve accessibility and inclusivity for individuals with disabilities.
• Develop a design proposal for a product or service that explicitly aims to enhance a key capability identified through this approach.

Source

Disability and well-being: towards a Capability Approach for marketplace access · Journal of Marketing Management · 2023 · 10.1080/0267257x.2023.2271020