Age & Ability Research Lab
Members of the Centre staff have been publishing extensively since 1992 on the subjects of design for ageing, design for disability and inclusive design.
A seminal special edition of Applied Ergonomics (24/1,1993) focused on the design implications of ageing populations and launched the RCA focus on 'design for our future selves', leading directly to a series of industry seminars on fashion and textiles 'for our future selves', transport and vehicle design 'for our future selves', packaging for our 'future selves', along with a design collaboration with Safeway stores that led to a number of significant changes to store design including the now ubiquitous mini trolley.
In 1993, European Year of Older People and Solidarity between Generations, the Centre hosted a major international conference on design and ageing, along with an exhibition of 'design for our future selves' and a first DBA Challenge on design for our future selves. A book Designing for our Future Selves, edited by Roger Coleman, captured the seminar series and accompanied the 1993 conference, while a Royal College of Art Research Paper (1/2 1993/4) captured the store design work and laid out a methodology for age-friendly design.
These early activities and publications laid the ground for much future work, and a position paper by Roger Coleman, delivered at the 12th Triennial Congress, International Ergonomics Association and the Human Factors Association of Canada, later in 1994, set out the case for inclusive design as the most appropriate response to population ageing.
Click on names below to see publication lists.
