Gradually including potential users: A tool to counter design exclusions

•A tool that evaluates the features of designs while they are under development.•It provides product developers with objective results: exclusion and recommendations.•The exclusion caused is directly related to each design feature under evaluation.•It suggests modifications to enhance the inclusivity of each design feature assessed.

The paper describes an iterative development process used to understand the suitability of different inclusive design evaluation tools applied into design practices. At the end of this process, a tool named Inclusive Design Advisor was developed, combining data related to design features of small appliances with ergonomic task demands, anthropometric data and exclusion data. When auditing a new design the tool examines the exclusion that each design feature can cause, followed by objective recommendations directly related to its features. Interactively, it allows designers or clients to balance design changes with the exclusion caused. It presents the type of information that enables designers and clients to discuss user needs and make more inclusive design decisions.