Inclusive innovation in practice : foundations, inputs and challenges in disabilities

Thesis to be defended on the 23th of March 2022 at 2:00 pm and it took place at Ecole polytechnique

Abstract:

Access to education, employment and social life are among the challenges that people with disabilities face every day. Much remains to be done to ensure their full inclusion in society. In this context, the environment around them plays an important role: objects, digital interfaces, exterior and interior design can be either mitigators or amplifiers of disability. Involving people with disabilities in the design of objects and digital interfaces can be a way of making innovation a factor in mitigating disability situations, by having a better knowledge of people's needs: this is called inclusive innovation. However, the practical modalities of inclusive innovation are still poorly described. In this thesis, we therefore propose to improve our knowledge of it through three prisms: the prism of the innovative company and what inclusive innovation can bring to it, the prism of people with disabilities and the specific knowledge they mobilize, and the ethical prism that allows inclusive innovation foster the empowerment of people. Through a research-action at the TechLab of APF France handicap, we deepen the notion of inclusive innovation and the understanding of its challenges and mechanisms. We demonstrate in particular the link between co-design, i.e. the participation of people with disabilities in innovation, and universal design, i.e. the design of products that meet the needs of the greatest number of people. We analyze the experiential knowledge on which people with disabilities rely in these co-design processes. Finally, we study the numerous ethical questions raised by the participation of often vulnerable people in the design of innovative products. These contributions allow us to situate inclusive innovation within the framework of corporate innovation and personal empowerment practices.

Composition of the jury :

Keywords: disabilities, inclusive innovation, codesign, universal design, empowerment