Mobility, as well as being a human right, is a necessary and significant part of life which impacts multiple quality of life and health outcomes. Inclusive mobility encompasses user-centred design, research and engagement to create products, services and systems which facilitate and improve movement, transportation, and quality of life for everyone, especially mobility-challenged individuals and communities.
The Inclusionaries Lab focuses specifically on personal, public and paediatric dimensions of inclusive mobility to create accessible and desirable solutions as well as new knowledge in the field. We have undertaken research funded by key mobility providers in the UK including TFL (developing Inclusive Bus Travel guidelines) and Motability (developing a Value and Requirement Framework), and led collaborations with paediatric mobility providers such as MERU and Alder Hey Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. We are currently leading user-centred research and engagement for the design and development of the ‘SMART Suit’; an exoskeleton to improve independence and support daily activities for young people with neuromuscular diseases who have lost strength in their upper body.
Our latest research study funded by the Hugh Greenwood Legacy for Children’s Health Research, aims to advance knowledge in the field of inclusive paediatric mobility (IPM) design, through developing a framework to transition five core ‘designerly ways’, and populating the identified designerly knowledge gaps, with a focus on the role of narratives in child-centred design.
Our past research has led to the development of award-winning inclusive mobility solutions such as evolvable walking aid kits and all-terrain wheelchairs. Our contributions to the field of inclusive mobility have been internationally recognised (Inclusive Technology Prize, Nesta 2015; Best Paper Award, CWUAAT 2016) and won public support (SafariSeat, 2019).
Our trajectory of publications in this area can be accessed here.
The Inclusionaries Lab 