Co-authors:
Abir Mullick, Anjlee Agarwal, Balaram S., Debkumar Chakrabarti, Gaurav Raheja, Haimanti Banerjee, Rachna Khare, Ravi Shankar and Shivani Gupta (In alphabetical order)
Copyright:
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Disclaimer:
1. The UDI principles are stand alone universal design ideologies that focus in Indianness and inclusivity as they relate to age, gender, disability, caste, class, religion, poverty and urban/rural background.
2. UDI principles neither make any connection nor build on the 7 Universal Design Principles. They recognize the overarching importance 7 Principles in the field of universal design.
Principles, Description and Guidelines (in Indian context):
1. Equitable/ Saman : The design is fair and non-discriminating to diverse users
- Avoid prejudices against people of all ages, gender, disability, sizes, caste, class and religion.
- Consider different capabilities of users and build in many levels of engagement.
- Provide choices in access and use thru flexibility and customization.
- Allow personalization through inclusion of adjustable and adaptable options.
- Provide equality in challenge, opportunity and energy requirement.
2. Usable/ Sahaj : The design is operable by all users
- Provide independence, comfort, safety and support during use.
- Facilitate access, operation and convenience by diverse users.
- Include adaptations for those experiencing difficulty in use.
- Provide clarity in use, operation and maintenance to minimize instruction and avoid confusion and error.
- Adopt simple means to overcome complex operation.
- Follow cultural norms to address user expectations.
- Offer multi-sensory feedback to point in the right direction.
- Build in intuitive operation and innate understanding of problem.
- Allow easy adaptation to facilitate use by people with diverse abilities.
- Prevent costly mistakes and untended consequence from misuse.
3. Cultural / Sanskritik : The design respects the cultural past & the changing present assist all users
- Maintain social and traditional qualities in design.
- Include Indian idioms to make historic and social connection.
- Present in many languages for inclusive comprehension.
- For all castes and society levels.
- Respond to local context and conditions.
- Employ appropriate technology to match user expectations.
4. Economy/ Sasta : The design respects affordability and cost considerations for diverse users
- Ensure affordability, durability and maintainability.
- Use local materials for energy savings and cost effectiveness.
- Focus on low unit cost through wide distribution.
- Adopt modular approach to offer choice in features and price range.
5. Aesthetics/ Sundar : The design employs aesthetic to promote social integration among users
- Employ aesthetic to enhance universal appeal and use.
- Allow personalizing aesthetics through flexibility, adaptability and modularity of colour, form, texture and interaction.
- Employ appearance to inform use and safety.
- Bridge wide range of meaning and comprehension gaps.
