Universal Design for Packaging in the
Future
Introduction
The idea of universal design (UD)
has rapidly spread for the past decade from the second half of the 1990s,
and UD has become a general name that almost everyone knows. Especially in
the packaging field, access-friendly UD products have increased.
UD dates back to 1985 when Ronald
L. Mace disagreed with the barrier-free concept and advocated UD. The idea
of UD was introduced to Japan in 1990. Aside from this trend, the E&C
Project (the predecessor of the Accessible Design Foundation of Japan) advocated
the concept of accessible design products in 1991.
The background for UD spreading
and taking root in Japan in such a short period of time may be relevant to
the population aging at a rate unprecedented in the world.
The aging society means a high proportion of elderly persons in the total
population and a society where many households consist only of an elderly
couple or older person who lives alone. This is also a society where the conventional
sense of value is greatly changing.
Previously, younger and able-bodied
persons were the larger population in society and were always the targets
for product development. The needs of elderly persons or people with disabilities,
who were minorities, were likely to be ignored.
An increase in the number of older
persons means that these persons become a major force in the consumer market.
If entrepreneurs do not provide products or services with a firm understanding
of the needs of elderly persons and people with disabilities, they will not
be able to survive the competition in our aging society.
In the process of UD spreading
and taking root in society, a trend emerged where any product considered to
be improved in usability, even if only slightly, passed as UD. Recently, however,
UD has been developed by strictly confirming UD basics, a trend that means
returning UD to the starting line.
In this paper, I intend to examine
what UD will be sought after for packaging through confirming recent UD trends.
In the ISO and JIS standards for
elderly persons, these persons are termed elderly persons and people with
disabilities because people with disabilities can be considered as very characteristically
representing the needs of the elderly. In this paper, I will examine problems
of elderly persons and people with disabilities without distinguishing between
them.
1. Trends of standards for elderly persons and people with disabilities
The ISO (International Organization
for Standardization), which places high importance on the need to consider
the problems of the worldwide advancement of our aging society and people
with disabilities, published its policy statement "Consideration for
the needs of older persons and people with disabilities in standardization
work" in June 2000. The ISO also established ISO/IEC Guide 71 (Guidelines
for standards developers to address the needs of older persons and persons
with disabilities) in response to Japan's proposal in November 2001. Thus,
the ISO has promoted developing standards for addressing the needs of elderly
persons and people with disabilities.
JIS Z 8071 (Guidelines for standards
developers to address the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities)
was established as domestic standards corresponding to ISO/IEC Guide 71, and
27 JIS standards have been established based on JIS Z 8071 so far.
The aging of society is a trend
in Japan and prevalent worldwide including developing countries (see Fig.
1). The term "Addressing the needs of elderly persons and people with
disabilities" will be a keyword in every field of activity worldwide
in the future.
Fig. 1 Aging population in the world
2. Japan as the secretariat for TC122 (Packaging)
At present, the ISO has 229 Technical
Committees (TC), and ISO member nations rotate the TC secretariats. The TC122
(Packaging) secretariat covers the main field of our packaging industry in
Japan, and the Japan Packaging Institute (JPI) has been registered as a member
of the National Mirror Committee for TC122.
In shop-floor (monozukuri) technologies
for the 21st century when the population is aging worldwide, Japan, as the
TC122 (Packaging) secretariat, is expected to promote the development of ISO
standards for addressing the needs of elderly persons and people with disabilities
through the field of packaging.
As one of these activities, the
JPI proposed that JIS S 0021 (Guidelines for standards developers to address
the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities) should be established
as the ISO standards, and JIS S 0021 was officially registered for WG9* this
January. Japan's strategy for developing standards started from the field
of packaging toward the world stage.
*Name of TC122 working group registered
with the ISO.
The proposed standards (JIS S
0021) will be deliberated in WG9. The JPI is supporting the WG9 by setting
up a domestic committee for promoting international standardization: Investigation
and International Promotion Committee for Standardization of Packaging for
Addressing the Needs of Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities.
The JPI, as a head office, has
been promoting the improvement of JIS standards. Two JIS standards were established
in February 2007: JIS S 0022-3 (Guidelines for older persons and persons with
disabilities - Packaging and receptacles - Tactile indication for identification)
and JIS S 0022-4 (Guidelines for older persons and persons with disabilities
- Packaging and receptacles -Usability evaluation methods).
The latter, JIS S 0022-4, is generally
termed usability evaluation methods and is the very concept of the UD evaluation
method.
3. UD and AD
In the above ISO/IEC Policy statement,
the term UD is not used. Instead, "Accessible Designs which more widely
cover human capabilities or their limits shall be introduced into the standards,"
is stated.
Accessible Design (AD) is a concept
included in UD, and AD is defined as "Designs focused on people with
some kind of functional disability and for the purpose of improving conventional
designs to satisfy the needs of such people, maximizing the number of potential
customers who can use the improved products, buildings, and services."
UD is abstract in that it is an idea or a policy, while AD implies encouraging
more activities, because it uses the word "accessible" which means
ease of access.
ISO simply defines and uses AD
as a design for addressing the needs of elderly persons and people with disabilities.
The root of UD can be traced to
the concept of addressing the needs of elderly persons and people with disabilities.
Both Mace and Kawauchi are in wheelchairs. Kawauchi explains, "Pursuing
designs that can be commonly used by anyone, not just a particular group of
people, leads to imagination for proactive design methods that cannot be fully
expressed with the concept of conventional barrier-free design, and we call
them universal designs." The concept of UD is that designs should accommodate
the needs of older persons and persons with disabilities, but not exclusively
focus on them.
Both UD and AD can be regarded
as synonymous terms, but AD is used in ISO fields instead of UD, because AD
is more suggestive of actuality.
Synonyms for UD include design
for all, inclusive design, normalization, usability, and common use item.
4. Active seniors
Recently the number of energetic
elderly persons has been increasing, and they are called active seniors. When
people become older, it becomes difficult for them to do the same things they
could do when young. Even if they are healthy or praised as active seniors,
they cannot avoid gradual weakening from aging. Unlike when they were young,
they cannot read small writing. They are faced by problems such as being hard
of hearing, deteriorating memory, losing manual dexterity, and often stumbling
over small steps. These are never morbid conditions, but just reduced physical
ability and performance due to aging which almost all normal people suffer.
As they age, responding to inconvenience becomes problematic.
If the number of people increases
who have difficulty using a product that they have habitually used for many
years, something needs to be improved for the product from the UD perspective.
This warning must be addressed, or elderly persons and people with disabilities
will sooner or later ignore the product.
The focus is if UD for packaging
and receptacles of the future can attract elderly persons and people with
disabilities, who have become the majority of the consumer market, as users,
while expanding the usability of products that satisfy the needs of people
whose physical functions have declined.
5. UD required for packaging
Retrospectively, I wonder if
UD has been biased from pursuing convenience. If such UD can be called a UD
that is deeper vertically, horizontally extended UD will be sought to attract
the elderly persons and people with disabilities, whose physical function
has declined, as users.
This does not mean that healthy
people who were targets of conventional design should be patient for the convenience
of elderly persons and people with disabilities.
In many cases, healthy people
can also comfortably use the products for the comfortable use of elderly persons
and people with disabilities. The basic principle of UD and AD is to make
products used by as many people as possible with new information or innovation
added to them without extra cost.
Usability of packaging and receptacles
is comprehensively evaluated as a result of their going through every use
environment and actual use from product purchase to separation and disposal.
Even if a product is partly added to as a twist or improved but short of sufficient
consideration for other parts, it will end up with poor usability. The product
then cannot be considered as packaging and receptacles made considering many
people including elderly persons and people with disabilities.
6. Development and evaluation of UD products are two sides of the same
coin
Setting up a project team for
UD so as not to miss the wave of aging society may be workable, but UD products
cannot be easily created by such attempts alone.
UD should start with user dissatisfaction,
particularly that of elderly persons and persons with disabilities. As mentioned
above, the satisfaction or dissatisfaction with packaging and receptacles
is evaluated as a result of their going through every use environment and
actual use from product purchase to storage, opening and use. Therefore, UD
products should be developed by firmly understanding the points qualified
as UD.
Development and evaluation of
UD products are two sides of the same coin. Developing UD products should
be started from checking UD evaluation items.
For that purpose, I recommend
utilizing "A list of usability evaluation items for packaging and receptacles"
(see Table. 1) in JIS S 0022-4. This list consists of eight major classifications,
and other medium size and minor classifications as individual deployment.
Checking these classifications one by one will enable understanding what part
of a product is inadequate and what type of product is required from the UD
perspective.
7. List of evaluation items for packaging and receptacles (Standards)
For preparing UD evaluation items
for packaging and receptacles, the evaluation items specific to packaging
and receptacles were selected, and the elements related to packaging and receptacles
were determined according to JIS Z 8071. Then these items were divided and
listed as the following eight steps:
① Purchase: product identification and portability
② Storage (storage prior to opening): storage methods and properties
③ Opening: opening part, opening method, and openability (ease of opening)
④ Use: retention, usage and usability
⑤ Resealing: resealing method and ease of resealing
⑥ Storage (storage after opening): storage method and properties
⑦ Refuse segregation
⑧ Disposal
Forms and purposes of packaging
and receptacles are of great variety, but all these packaging and receptacles
have a commonality among them from the perspective of UD evaluation items.
Therefore, a list of usability evaluation items for packaging and receptacles
(standards) was prepared with the expressions used in each evaluation item
arranged to be comprehensive to apply to all packaging and receptacles.
First of all, preparation of evaluation
items (a checklist of evaluation items) needs to be done in order to appropriately
develop UD for packaging and receptacles before evaluation. As a starter,
Table 1 is used with the expressions in its evaluation items being gradually
replaced with expressions suitable for the characteristics, form, and use
of the product to be evaluated.
Because Table 1 contains every
item needed to evaluate UD for packaging and receptacles, improving evaluation
items (a checklist of evaluation items) can easily and accurately be made
by replacing the expressions already used in the evaluation items with expressions
suitable for the product to be evaluated, thus making it possible to prevent
necessary items being left out or expressions being biased.
Table 1. List of Usability Evaluation Items for Packaging and Receptacles
(Standards)
|
Classification
|
Evaluation item
|
| Purchase |
Product identification |
| • |
Can the product be easily identified? (Could it be
purchased by mistake?) |
| |
- |
Name and design of product not similar to other products |
| |
- |
Consideration for character size and combination of colors |
| • |
Can the product be identified without relying on eyesight? |
| |
- |
Product marking that enables tactile discrimination (Braille,
raised lettering, symbol, notch (cutout), etc.) |
| |
- |
Characteristic receptacles (in shape and material) |
| • |
Are legal descriptions easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Display positions of content amount, ingredients (including allergic
substances), expiration date, and the like |
|
| Portability |
| • |
Is the product easy to carry? |
| |
- |
Shape, weight, size, and slippage resistance |
|
| Storage a |
Storing method |
| • |
Is the storing method easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Intuitive understanding |
| |
- |
Understandability of storage procedures, illustrations, and storage
instructions |
|
| Storage property (Ease of storage) |
| • |
Is the product easy to store? |
| |
- |
Ease of storage, stable shape, and resistance against slippage
when the product is taken out of storage |
| |
- |
Explicitness of product identification during storage, and indication
of expiration date
(If there are plural inner and unitary packages inside packaging
or receptacles, indication is needed for each of them.) |
|
| Opening |
Opening place |
| • |
Is the opening place easy to find? |
| |
- |
Intuitive cognition, usual opening place which can intuitively
be found |
| |
- |
Explicit indication of opening place |
| • |
Can the opening place be found without
relying on eyesight? |
| |
- |
Tactile notches, concavities and convexities created at opening
place, etc. |
|
| Opening method |
| • |
Is the opening method easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Intuitive cognition, simple opening structure |
| |
- |
Understandability of opening procedures and illustration (In case
of a new opening method) |
|
| Ease of opening (openabili-ty) |
| • |
Can the package easily be opened? |
| |
- |
Consideration for easy opening (knobs, use of a material that
can be torn straight, slip stoppers, etc.) |
| |
- |
Consideration for limited force, finger size, dominant hand, etc. |
|
| Use |
Retention |
| • |
Is the product easy to hold? |
| |
- |
Shape, weight, size and slippage resistance of the product which
can be handled with one hand |
| |
- |
Consideration for stability (gravity center, balance, stiffness,
etc.) |
|
| Method of use |
| • |
Is the method of use easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Intuitive understanding |
| |
- |
Understandability of procedure for use and illustration |
| • |
Are warning display and instructions for use easy
to understand? |
| |
- |
Consideration for character size, combination of colors, and display
position |
| |
- |
Danger notice and display of steps to be taken in case of improper
use or accidental ingestion |
|
| Usability |
| • |
Can the product easily be used? Can the product easily
be refilled (in case of refilling)? |
| |
- |
Shape, weight, size, and slippage resistance which can be handled
with one hand |
| |
- |
Ease for content removal (ease of pouring) |
| |
- |
Ease of confirming the amount for proper use and remaining amount |
| |
- |
Consideration of splashing, protrusions, dripping, spilling, etc.
|
| • |
Can all the contents be removed? |
| |
- |
Minimal extent of the final amount remaining in the receptacle |
| • |
Can the product / package safely be used? |
| |
- |
Consideration for danger, improper use, and accidental digestion
(safety against careless mistakes) |
|
| Repacking |
Repacking method |
| • |
Is the repacking method easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Intuitive understanding |
| |
- |
Understandability of repacking procedures and illustration |
|
| Ease of repacking |
| • |
Is it easy to repack the product? |
| |
- |
Consideration for limited force and dominant hand |
| |
- |
Ease for confirming repacking (feeling, sound, etc.) |
|
| Storage b |
Storing method |
| • |
Is the storage method easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Intuitive understanding |
| |
- |
Understandability of storage procedures, illustrations, and precautions |
|
| Ease of storage (storage property) |
| • |
Is the product easy to store? |
| |
- |
Ease for storing, resistance to dropping, and slippage resistance
when the content is removed |
| |
- |
Ease of product identification during storage, and clear indication
of expiration date
(If there are plural inner and unitary packages in each packaging
and receptacle, necessary indications must be put on each package.)
|
| • |
Can the quality and sanitation of the content be kept
while in use and in storage environments? |
| |
- |
Consideration for preventing the product content from deteriorating
or being mixed with foreign substances and fluids |
|
| Sorting |
| • |
Is the sorting method easy to understand? (Sorting
procedures and sorting indication) |
| |
- |
Intuitive understanding |
| |
- |
Explicitness of indication of sorting method and caution mark
at the time of storage |
| • |
Is the sorting easy? |
| |
- |
Sorting based on materials |
| |
- |
Ease of folding and crushing |
| |
- |
Absence of danger at the time of sorting |
|
| Disposal c |
| • |
Is the disposal method easy to understand? |
| |
- |
Intuitive understanding |
| |
- |
Comprehensiveness of disposal method and caution mark at the time
of disposal |
| • |
Can the product safely be disposed of? |
| |
- |
Absence of danger during and after disposal |
|
| Notes: |
Understandability of evaluation items described in Table 1:
As for writing size, the estimation method of minimum legible
size for a single Japanese character is provided in JIS S 0032.
The graphic warning symbols for consumers are provided in JIS
S 0101. |
| Note a: |
Storage before opening |
| Note b: |
Storage after opening |
| Note c: |
Taking out of the trash (recyclable waste, burnable
trash, etc.) |
|
Conclusion
The method for developing and
evaluating UD for packaging and receptacles is detailed in JIS S 0022-4 which
stipulates that the evaluation must be conducted by monitors including older
persons and persons with disabilities of 20 percent or more. Only actual use
of a product by elderly persons and persons with disabilities enables us to
evaluate if the product has packaging or is a receptacle suitable for addressing
the needs of many people including them. Moreover, UD extended horizontally,
which is now being sought after, is envisaged.
Because horizontally extended
UD is AD, I recommend using the term AD instead of UD in the field of practical
business too, just like UD is being reworded as AD in standards. As the saying
names and natures often agree goes, using the term AD to express horizontally
extended UD will clearly transmit the concept of such UD for packaging and
receptacles of the future, that is the same as AD, and AD will steadily spread
among the general public.
Furthermore, as an effort related
to educational campaigns responding to our aging society, an award for tactile
indication for identification has been introduced this year into the Japan
Packaging Contest, which is held by the JPI in June every year. Many UD products
friendly to elderly persons and people with disabilities (AD products) are
expected in the contest.