Using Design Thinking to Develop New Methods of Inclusive Exhibition Making

Museums and galleries are now making significant developments in the area of inclusion and awareness of disability rights. There have been noticeable advances in the design of cultural, physical and digital spaces, which provide wider access to a museum's physical and intellectual resources, for individuals of diverse ages and abilities. However, responses have varied in consistency, efficacy, and legacy. This year-long design research project, in partnership with the Wellcome Collection and the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Royal College of Art, develops a working set of tools that can be used by museums to improve accessibility in a more permanent and reiterative manner, with a view towards gathering and sharing relevant data, and design responses, within a broad network of museums and cultural institutions. This paper outlines recent approaches by relevant experts in the field and outlines a new approach to incorporating inclusive design within the process of exhibition creation. It uses co-design methods to provide a set of principled guidelines that respond to all relevant stakeholders. These guidelines are predicated on the understanding that establishing empathetic links between exhibition-makers and exhibition audience members is essential, resulting in a positive collaboration, combining the skills of museum professionals with the lived experience of people with disabilities. A central goal of the research is to explore how design issues surrounding access can be framed as an essential and positive component of the design process, and, more importantly, an opportunity for innovation, not simply an obligatory requirement. This paper comprises the observations of a current research project of a 12 month project, commencing in September 2017 and concluding in September 2018.