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As society becomes increasingly aware of peoples diverse needs, accessible design has become the hot topic. Years ago at Michael Graves Design, our president Donald Strum, our chief design officer Rob Van Varick, and I were reviewing student portfolios. All the designs were about sustainability. Today, we see a lot of focus on accessibility. We love it. This makes sense, because gaining empathy for your products future users is at the core of product design. The design community is ready for accessibility. Our challenge today is proving that it makes great business sense. At Michael Graves Design, we have long embraced accessible design; our North Star is activities of daily living (ADLs), a term used to describe the fundamental skills required to successfully live independently. Guided by our “Delight for All” philosophy, and with the ADLs prioritizing the most impactful objects to design, were dedicated to designing products that people love and products that enhance lives, regardless of age or physical ability. To do that, we look for product opportunity gapsunmet consumer needsand fulfill them with new product designs. By definition, this is pioneering, creating solutions that previously have not existed. We embrace pioneering as a cherished value that we want to share. Our true mission has been to design everyday objects in a way that works for the widest audience possible. At the same time, the products should look great and make users love them because the products enhance their lives. Brands want to make emotional connections with consumers and helping someone do something that was previously a struggle is the best way to fall in love. We understand that expanding the addressable market size is fundamental to growth and that people always want a better mousetrap. Were designing products that give equal focus to style and safety. Democratization of design Michael Graves, an esteemed architect and designer, founded our firm with a visionary mission to shift design from abstract modernism to a human-centered approach that puts the person at the center of all design decisions. This philosophy brought color and art back into the built environment, and prioritized human comfort, understanding, and joy. This approach provides cognitive accessibility. Later, Michael Graves Designs partnership with Target defined America’s expectation that great design should be affordable to everyone. Design became a corporate strategy. The democratization of design was born, and our company delivered financial accessibility. Over his last decade, after becoming paralyzed, Michael discovered the indignities the built environment imposed on people, and he became a passionate advocate among the disabled. This moved our company to focus on physical accessibility, directing the power of design to improve lifestyles and healthcare experiences for every body. Michael transformed the role of the architect in society and left the world a better place than he found it. Delight for All Now, our mission is Delight for All, to create moments of joy through products that are visually appealing, full of character and purpose, and designed to enhance peoples lives. We take pride in being one of the most accessible design brands, creating functional, beautiful products for every body and encourage other companies and designers to do the same. Weve brought over 2,500 products to market, from our iconic teakettles to healthcare products that transform the acute care experience, to home products that prioritize universal accessibility and appeal. We create products with purpose and personality, safety, and style, so that no one has to choose between living with one or the otherthe concepts can coexist harmoniously. This approach is rooted in empathy and an understanding of how profoundly good design improves quality of life, making everyday environments more intuitive and enjoyable for everyone. Design for All led to good design becoming a cost of entry consideration for most companies. Our brand ethos is now pushing other companies and designers to consider physical accessibility from the onset of their design processes rather than as an afterthought. Once this reaches critical mass and competition is everywhere, the promise of universal design will be achieved and we want to get there together. How is this done? To design any product with a Delight for All vision, a rigorous ethnographic research process, known as Design With, is essential to the discovery of novel functional enhancements. We start each design project by generating insights based on the lives of real people. We conduct interviews and observations with a diverse range of potential users, including older adults and individuals with disabilities. By understanding the unique needs of these communities, we ensure that our products are not only aesthetically pleasing but also practical and empowering, making them suitable for every body. Human-focused ethos This human-focused ethos guided our recent collaboration with Pottery Barn, where consumer preference testing feedback informed the designs for our new products. By prioritizing user feedback, companies can create designs that blend safety with style, showing that accessibility is as essential to great furniture design as are aesthetic considerations. Design has the power to enrich all of our lives and this collaboration allows us to make beautiful and purposeful furniture available to everyone. We also focus on collaborating with design schools and advocacy groups to raise awareness about the importance of accessibility in design, ensuring this ethos spreads. Our goal is to set new consumer expectations with products that seamlessly blend safety with style, proving to the world that accessible design makes great business sense by broadening the total addressable market. We remain committed to redefining accessible design, ensuring that innovation and empathy continues to shape a more inclusive world and want to see more brands do so with us. Accessible design is part of our ongoing mission: to create functional, accessible, and beautiful products that enhance the lives of every body, paving the way for a more inclusive world. Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design.
Category:
E-Commerce
On Wednesday, Utah became the first state in the country to pass legislation mandating that app stores verify users ages and get parental consent for certain activity on minors accounts. The controversial App Store Accountability Act, which will now head to the desk of Utah Governor Spencer Cox, has pitted app store giants Google and Apple against social media companies like Meta and is part of a wave of similar proposals that have been introduced in a number of states, including Texas and Alabama. The bill received broad support from the social media platforms that have borne the brunt of criticism for failing to protect children online. Those platforms have long argued that app stores themselves ought to take on more responsibility to shield kids from harmful apps. In a statement provided on behalf of Meta, Snap, and X, a Meta spokesperson applauded Utah for putting parents in charge with the passage of the law. “Parents want a one-stop shop to verify their childs age and grant permission for them to download apps in a privacy-preserving way, the statement reads. The app store is the best place for it. App stores, of course, see things differently. Google declined Fast Companys request for comment, and Apple didnt respond. But Chamber of Progress, a tech advocacy group that represents both companies, has come out forcefully in opposition of the legislation. In public testimony and writing platforms, the group has accused the bill of infringing on the First Amendment rights of Utah’s citizens and violating their privacy by forcing app stores to collect sensitive data in order to verify ages. Chamber of Progress has argued the law would require companies to collect even more data than they already do. In a statement to Fast Company, Chamber of Progresss government relations senior director Robert Singleton suggested a legal battle would inevitably follow if the bill is signed into law. Indeed, another law in Utah that attempted to require social media platforms to verify users ages was blocked in court last year on First Amendment grounds. Similar social media age-verification laws in other states have also been blocked, but that has not deterred states, including Utah, from approaching the issue from a new angle. And yet, Singleton predicted, The same thing is likely to happen here. This bill invades everyones privacy and forces even adults to share sensitive data just to use their own devices. Utah state representative Jim Dunnigan, who sponsored the bill in the State House, says parent groups were a significant force in getting the legislation over the finish line. This is at least partly driven by parents who are concerned about the adult contacts that their children have available to them, he says. Parents arent always there, and their kids are curious. Were trying to protect them until they get older. One leading child advocacy group that has been circulating the bill across the country as model legislation is the Digital Childhood Alliance. In a statement, the alliances founding chair Melissa McKay said, The momentum behind this issue is growing, and todays victory is a testament to the urgent need for accountability from the platforms that shape the digital lives of children. In addition to requiring app stores to verify ages and get parental consent every time a child wants to download or purchase something on an app, the bill would require app stores to share age categories and consent data with developers. It would also enable minors or their parents who have been harmed to file a civil suit against app stores. Utahs governor was supportive of the social media age-verification law that was blocked, and according to Rep. Dunnigan, Governor Cox is expected to support this new bill as well. If that happens, it seems unlikely the app store giants will go down without a fight. A recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal revealed how Apples lobbying blitz in Louisiana helped kill a similar attempt to regulate the App Store. In the meantime, the company appears eager to send a message that its prepared to implement changes without regulation. Last week, in apparent anticipation of the laws passage, Apple announced a slew of new child-safety offerings, including giving parents the ability to share their childrens ages in the App Storeinformation that is then passed on to app developers. Thats a welcome step, says Rep. Dunnigan, but we need consistency across all platforms, and thats what this bill tries to accomplish.
Category:
E-Commerce
In recent weeks, as President Trump has made huge cuts to federal programs, let go of thousands of federal workers under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and given U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more authority, we’ve seen tons of criticism of the president’s executive orders. Even some who voted for Trump, but have lost their jobs as a result of Trump’s firings, have admitted they now regret their decision and have turned on the president. Despite all that, the president’s approval rating is going up among Gen Z, according to a new poll from AtlasIntel conducted between February 24 and February 27. Overall, the president’s rating remains largely unchanged. In the survey of 2,849 U.S. adults, Trump’s overall approval rating was 50.3%a slight gain from a poll taken days after he took office for the second time, when it was 50.1%. However, the evaluations varied greatly by age group. The survey showed Trump gaining points among the Gen Z group of people ages 18 to 29: 41.3% approved of him in the previous poll taken days after the inauguration. In the new poll, the number is 52.7%. Men felt more favorably than women, according to the poll, with 53.8% of men approving of the president, as opposed to 46.9% of women. Millennials felt differently, with 77.2% saying they disapprove of the president. The survey didn’t offer a clear explanation for why Trump is gaining popularity among Gen Z. However, when asked about the president’s policy proposals, more respondents overall approved of plans like “mass deportations of undocumented immigrants” and “starting negotiations with Russia to end the war in Ukraine.” He gained 8 points on the first proposal, and 9 on the latter. Trump hasn’t actually deported more illegal immigrants than President Biden. But he has ramped up ICE’s authority. And despite pitching himself as the “honest broker” of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it’s worth noting that in February, just one day after AtlasIntel’s poll closed, Trump held a contentious meeting in the Oval Office with Ukraine’s President Zelensky in which the two sparred over negotiations. In the recent survey, Trump also gained 4 points in his proposals to roll back “federal protections for gender identity procedures.” Trump has given executive orders that would make it harder, if not impossible for transgender youth to receive gender reassignment surgery or medications that support their true gender identity. The plans are terrifying for many in the transgender community, including those who have already been living as a certain gender who depend on certain medications, as well as parents of transgender kids. While Gen Z’s reasoning may not be entirely clear, one thing we do know is that young Gen Z white men voted overwhelmingly for Trump (67%). At the same time, many young men have felt threatened by shifting gender roles, including rights for women and LGBTQ+ individuals, which far-right influencers have framed as a turn away from traditional masculinity. In a 2023 survey, young men said they increasingly felt they experienced gender discrimination. Nearly half of all men ages 18 to 29 identified with feeling discriminated against, more than any other age group.
Category:
E-Commerce
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