Microsoft Inclusive Design

Inclusive Design is a methodology, born out of digital environments, that enables and draws on the full range of human diversity. Most importantly, this means including and learning from people with a range of perspectives.

Inclusive Design is for you

Whether you're a program manager, engineer, data scientist, designer, or anyone else who helps create products and services, Inclusive Design is a practice you can follow.

Inclusive Design principles

Exclusion happens when we solve problems using our own biases. We seek out exclusions, and use them as opportunities to create new and better experiences.
A wheelchair user smilingA wheelchair user smiling

Recognize exclusion

We acknowledge bias and recognize exclusions that happen because of mismatches between people and experience.
A group of people with different outfits and appearancesA group of people with different outfits and appearances

Learn from diversity

Inclusive Design puts people in the center throughout the process. Their fresh, diverse perspectives are the key to true insight.
A person who is blind wearing glasses and using a caneA person who is blind wearing glasses and using a cane

Solve for one, extend to many

Everyone has abilities and limits. Creating products for people with permanent disabilities creates results that benefit everyone.

Inclusive Design tools and activities

Practice new skills, develop new concepts, or create a prototype—the toolkit is made to be retrofitted to your team’s goals. Download everything here, and start exploring!
Many diverse people with different attire, some with visible disabilities.Many diverse people with different attire, some with visible disabilities.

Inclusive 101

This manual is a comprehensive introduction to the world of inclusive design. Learn the basics and shift your design thinking toward universal solutions. Download Inclusive 101 Guidebook (PDF)
Two people cooking a recipe, one references a book and the other references their phone.Two people cooking a recipe, one references a book and the other references their phone.

Inclusive Design for Cognition Guidebook

This guidebook is an introduction to Inclusive Design for Cognition. Learn how you can build products that account for the amazing diversity of human cognition.Download Inclusive Design for Cognition Guidebook (PDF)
A person smiles while looking at a globe.A person smiles while looking at a globe.

In Pursuit of Inclusive AI

Read this primer to understand how bias affects artificial intelligence.Download In Pursuit of Inclusive AI (PDF)
A smile emoji.

Inclusive Design for Mental Health Guidebook

This guide extends our cognitive framework into mental health and how to respect it in product experiences.Download Inclusive Design for Mental Health Guidebook (PDF)
A stack of cards.

Inclusive Design for Mental Health cards

These design pattern cards provide guidance for using specific design patterns in your designs.Download Inclusive Design for Mental Health cards (PDF)
A person in profile with a focal point in their head.

Case Studies: Creating for Cognition

Browse our curated selection of stories about how employees and customers reduced cognitive exclusion in their products.Download Case Studies: Creating for Cognition (PDF)
A chat bubble with lines

Inclusive Design for Cognition Screeners

These screeners are questions for recruiting co-creators that align with each cognitive area and many situational contexts.Download Inclusive Design for Cognition Screeners (PDF)
A worksheet and pencil.

Inclusive Design for Cognition Worksheet

This worksheet is a step-by-step process on integrating inclusive design for cognition methodology into your creation process.Download Inclusive Design for Cognition Worksheet (PDF)
Arrows pointing to a focal point.

Respecting Focus

Learn how to adapt your experiences to be considerate of interrupting your customers.Download Respecting Focus (PDF)
A computer mouse.

Devices, Accessories, and Augmentations

Software is malleable, physical products have form. We strive to design how forms can be adjustable or augmented to meet the needs of the disabled.Download Devices, Accessories, and Augmentations (PDF)
A directional guidepost.

Creating for Guidance

Dive in with a product team to see how they integrated Inclusive Design into their work.Download Creating for Guidance (PDF)
A stack of cards.

Inclusive activity cards

The activity cards and support cards are built to be integrated into your process. Jump-start creative thinking and stress-test concepts through an inclusive lens.Download inclusive activity cards (PDF)

Inclusive Design in action

At Microsoft, our technology is intended to deliver increased access, reduced friction, and more emotional context to the greatest number of people. Microsoft experiences reflect the spirit of Inclusive Design as an approach to creating experiences.Go to our YouTube for more videos about inclusive design
A woman using a sewing machine.

An Intro to Inclusive Design

A view into how we design for human motivations and needs.
A baby wearing a hat and jacket stares out a window.

Inclusive: The Film

How we create for human motivations and needs and seeking diversity as dynamic inspiration.
A person in profile looking away, an effect over their profile extends their profile into many lines.

Inclusive Design for Cognition

A call to create products that adapt to the many different ways we approach and achieve our goals.
Haben Girma, wearing a patterned blue dress, smiles and sits at an office conference table.

Haben

Haben Girma, JD, Disability Rights Advocate.
Victor Pineda uses a motorized wheelchai and ventilator while looking away.

Victor

Victor Pineda, Urban Planner, Filmmaker.
Antoine Hunter/Purple Fire Crow, a Deaf advocate, teaches a dance class.

Antoine

Antoine Hunter, Deaf Advocate, Dance Teacher, Choreographer.
Rosemarie Garland-Thomson speaks while moving her hands.

Rosemarie

Rosemarie Garland Thomson, Professor, Emory University.
Two people watching a presentation on a projector.

Inclusive Design Sprint: Team Xbox

In a one-week Inclusive Design sprint, team Xbox came together to reimagine social gaming
Margaret Price looks away with a background of leafy trees behind her

How do you achieve focus?

A call to create systems that empathize with users and adjust the way they communicate
Two women address an audience and gesture at a poster of notes.

Digital Systems

See how creativity can evolve into digital experiences that are more responsive and less biased.
A group of people gathered around a table talking, some of whom are wheelchair and cane users.

Empathy

How emphasizing empathy develops into participatory, insightful product creation.
A playground with children climbing on it and an adult nearby.

Inclusive Cities

The built environment has a rich history that is mindful of human diversity. See how city structures can inspire more thoughtful and accessible designs.