As a society, we usually design for the 'average male', whoever this is, and this can be problematic for anyone who is not the 'average male.' So I ask who should we be designing for then? should everything we design have a form of flexibility so that it can adapt to fit everyone's needs, of all shapes and sizes. The difficulty I find is that we are never going to be able to design for everyone and so is designing for the 'average male' the best way to meet the majority of people's needs.
Another interesting point made during Kaitlyn's talk was about people designing for the disabled. Often people try and design or create something to help aid the disabled, but if they fail they think this is good enough. This is not the case. A lot of designers almost see designing for the disabled as a charitable thing to do. Even though it is a challenge to create a product for people with various impairments, I see this as a massive opportunity, as designers have the ability to create a product that enables ease of movement or living for someone who may not have had this before. I think this is an incredibly rewarding design challenge and should be a more prominent topic in the world of design.
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