An Inclusive design methodology for smart home products good for market performance

Abstract: In the background of the rapid development of technology and intelligence, intelligent technology has brought more novel and convenient experiences to most users when using home appliances. It is because young users have become accustomed to the smart products, but it has also increased the difficulty for special groups such as the elderly and disabled. Home appliances are very daily products for the elderly, however the emergence of new forms and technologies of home appliances has lead them being unable to use basic functions properly. Large smart screens with tons of functions has made it difficult for users to find the key to access; voice operations have made it difficult for them to know how to speak, and so on. The era of intelligence has brought unprecedented technological panic to these special groups.However, despite the fact that the home appliance industry began addressing the issue of product usage for special groups as early as 2000, there has always been a significant challenge. The problem is that once the home appliance design meets the needs of a special group, the product will have "awkward shape", such as the washing machine's buttons being too large to accommodate more functions; The small size of the refrigerator is only for the convenience of elderly people to access, but it affects the volume for daily life required. In a word, although it meets the needs of the special population, it sacrifices the user experience of most people and even affects market sales.The main reason for the problems is the lack of practical and feasible inclusive research and design methodologies for smart home appliances. The main popular methodology is “Microsoft's inclusive design”, but it mainly focuses on software without a specific methodology for smart home products that combine software and hardware. This paper built a research and design methodology for innovative smart home products targeting special and healthy populations.And based on the know-how of R&D, we attempt to overcome this challenge and ensure that products that have been designed by this methodology can meet the needs of special populations for accessible use, while also covering healthy users as much as possible. While gaining a good reputation for humanity design in the market, it can also ensure market efficiency. Finally, the article introduces three successful cases of applying this methodology.

Keywords: User experience, smart home products, barrier free design, market performance

DOI: 10.54941/ahfe1005455

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