Universal Design Management for Persons With Intellectual Disabilities

It is often expected that the main role of designers in supporting the independence of persons with disabilities is to develop product designs. This paper, however, deals with broader areas to which support through design is applied. By executing design management activities, aimed at achieving positive results by integrating information on the market, technologies, production, logistics, and the social environment into product design development, the project described in this paper supported the creation of a mechanism enabling people at vocational aid centers (VACs) to engage in product development by themselves in a sustainable manner, referred to as "universal design management" in this paper. Examining the method and its effects, the author finds five factors for success: (1) a paradigm shift from welfare service to business management, (2) common goals and cooperative systems, (3) shared information and knowledge transfer, (4) collaboration with local communities, and (5) the accumulation of successful experiences.