Recognize exclusion — you are excluding situations without realizing it. That is the first step toward truly inclusive design.
You design for users like yourself, but the truth is: your abilities are not the baseline for everyone. The trap is designing for the “average” user that looks like you — and excluding people with different cognitive abilities, backgrounds, or contexts without even realizing it.
Most product teams know about accessibility for physical disabilities. But cognitive exclusion is subtler, deeper, and far more common. It happens when your product assumes users can read fast, remember multiple steps, or tolerate distractions — assumptions that leave many behind.
Designing inclusively means shifting your mindset from “Who am I designing for?” to “Who am I excluding by default?”
This lesson teaches you how to recognize cognitive exclusion, adopt an inclusive mindset, and use proven methods and tools to build products that work for people with diverse abilities — especially in India’s rich, complex context.
The uncomfortable reality: exclusion is everywhere
Ask yourself honestly:
- When was the last time you got annoyed because your mother struggled with a digital task she couldn’t understand?
- When were you impatient with a colleague who found new software confusing?
- When have you judged someone’s technical opinion because they lacked formal education, even if they had relevant experience?
- When have you assumed everyone on your team could skip meals without considering cultural or religious fasting?
- When have you dismissed someone’s feedback because they didn’t speak your language fluently?
These are everyday moments of exclusion. You may not intend to exclude — but your design decisions do.
Identity is multi-dimensional. Cognitive exclusion intersects with language, age, education, culture, and more. You exclude “situations” — contexts where people like you might operate differently.
Inclusive design is not just for people with disabilities. It is for anyone whose abilities or contexts differ from the norm you unconsciously assume.
Recognize exclusion first
Microsoft’s Inclusive Design framework starts here: exclusion recognition. Before you can design inclusively, you must see who you are excluding — often without realizing it.
This is not about “designing for the disabled” as a special case. It’s about understanding the broad spectrum of human ability and context, then designing products that solve for one use case and extend to many.
For example, Google improved their skin tone representation across products to serve a wider audience. Zomato expanded dietary filters beyond vegetarian and non-vegetarian to include keto, vegan, and allergen-free options, helping users with specific health needs find suitable meals.
Inclusive design mindset: from personas to situations
You have heard about personas and archetypes. Inclusive design requires you to evolve that thinking.
The baseline is not just demographic or cultural differences. It is abilities — cognitive, sensory, physical, emotional.
Abilities are not binary. It’s not just “disabled” or “not disabled.” It includes:
- Memory challenges
- Attention difficulties
- Language fluency
- Learning styles
- Processing speed
If you design only for people with typical abilities, you exclude a huge population.
The mindset shift is:
- From user personas to user situations
- From average user to edge cases
- From one-size-fits-all to solve for one, extend to many
Designing for a blind user, for example, creates features that benefit many others — such as voice commands or better contrast.
The methods of inclusive design
Inclusive design is a discipline that combines mindset with methods and tools.
1. Recognize exclusion patterns
Start by auditing your product for hidden exclusion:
- Are instructions too complex or jargon-heavy?
- Is navigation confusing for new users or those with cognitive challenges?
- Do error messages help users recover easily?
- Are assumptions about language, literacy, or tech familiarity baked in?
2. Learn from diversity
Data analytics can reveal diverse user needs. Tailor recommendations and content to individual preferences and constraints.
For example, a food delivery app in India should offer filters for dietary restrictions (vegan, keto, allergen-free), regional cuisines, and language preferences. Razorpay’s dashboard could be simplified for users with limited tech proficiency.
3. Simplify interface and navigation
Complex menus, multiple steps, and hidden features exclude users with lower attention spans or memory limits.
Implement voice search and voice commands to reduce cognitive load. Swiggy’s app uses simple, familiar flows to serve users across many Indian cities with different tech comfort levels.
4. Inclusive content and communication
Avoid content that promotes unhealthy behaviors or excludes cultural practices. For example, food apps should avoid promoting binge eating or impulse shopping.
Include content that educates users on balanced, mindful consumption, respecting cultural and religious fasting.
5. Accessibility features for cognition
Beyond physical accessibility, support cognitive needs:
- Text-to-speech and screen reader compatibility
- High contrast modes for readability
- Clear, consistent layouts
- Error prevention and recovery mechanisms
6. Feedback and adaptation
Allow users to report accessibility and inclusivity issues easily. Use this feedback to iterate continuously.
Tools to put inclusive design into practice
Microsoft and Google have developed practical toolkits with activities, checklists, and case studies. These help teams operationalize inclusive design in workflows.
Here are some highlights:
- Inclusive Design for Cognition Guidebook: A comprehensive resource on cognitive inclusion.
- Activity Cards: Workshop prompts to surface exclusion in your product.
- Worksheets and Recruiting Screeners: Help identify diverse participants for user research.
- Case Studies: Real stories showing impact of inclusive design.
I strongly recommend you explore these materials deeply — they are the closest to a textbook for inclusive design available today.
Inclusive design in the Indian context
India’s diversity amplifies the need for inclusive design.
- Language: 22 scheduled languages, many scripts, and widespread code-switching.
- Literacy: Varies widely by state and region.
- Tech access: Ranges from high-speed broadband in metros to shared feature phones in villages.
- Cultural practices: Dietary restrictions, religious fasting, communication styles.
A product that treats “Indian users” as a monolith is doomed. Meesho succeeded by understanding tier-2/3 reseller users who could not type searches in English. ShareChat built vernacular content for Hindi, Tamil, Telugu — not as translations but as distinct cultures.
Similarly, cognitive exclusion is layered on top of this complexity.
Your product must be usable by:
- Older adults unfamiliar with smartphones
- Users with limited reading ability
- People with intermittent connectivity who cannot wait for long load times
- Users who prefer voice interaction over typing
Inclusive design is not a luxury. It is a necessity in India’s market.
From exclusion to inclusion: a practical example
Let’s look at Zomato’s journey:
| Principle | Current Limitation | Suggested Improvement |
|---|---|---|
| Recognize Exclusion | Limited diet-specific filters (only vegetarian/non-vegetarian) | Add filters for vegan, keto, allergen-free meals to serve health-conscious users |
| Learn from Diversity | One-size-fits-all recommendations | Tailor promotions based on individual dietary habits and health goals using analytics |
| Simplify Interface | Complex navigation for new users | Implement voice search and simplify menus for ease of use |
| Inclusive Content | Promotions encourage binge eating | Revise content to promote balanced eating and mindful consumption |
| Accessibility Features | No support for visual impairments | Add text-to-speech, high contrast modes, screen reader compatibility |
| Feedback Mechanisms | Limited channels for accessibility feedback | Create robust feedback loops to continuously improve inclusivity |
This is how you move from exclusion to inclusion in practice.
The trap of assuming accessibility equals inclusivity
Accessibility focuses on removing barriers for people with disabilities.
Inclusivity is broader. It includes:
- Situations where users have temporary impairments (illness, injury)
- Cognitive diversity and neurodivergence
- Cultural and linguistic differences
- Socioeconomic contexts affecting tech use
Accessible products may still exclude users cognitively or culturally.
Inclusive design means covering the full spectrum.
How to start inclusive design in your team
- Adopt the mindset: Recognize exclusion is happening. It is not about “them” — it is about situations you exclude without realizing.
- Use the methods: Audit your product for exclusion, learn from diverse users, simplify interfaces, and build feedback loops.
- Leverage the tools: Use Microsoft’s and Google’s inclusive design toolkits and activity cards in workshops.
- Recruit diverse users: Go beyond your usual testers. Include people with cognitive differences, different languages, and varied tech comfort.
- Measure impact: Track inclusivity metrics — task success for diverse users, accessibility error rates, feedback volume.
In the Indian market, inclusive design is a competitive advantage. It expands your user base and creates equitable experiences.
Test yourself: The cognitive exclusion challenge
You are a PM at a Series B healthtech startup in Bangalore. Your app helps users track chronic conditions. User research shows older adults struggle with complex navigation, and many users skip meals during religious fasting, but the app sends reminders to eat. The marketing team wants to launch a new feature promoting weekly meal plans with high-calorie recipes.
The call: How do you approach designing the new feature to avoid cognitive exclusion and respect cultural practices?
Your reasoning:
Where to go next
- Build empathy with diverse users: User Research Methods
- Design for accessibility basics: Accessibility Fundamentals
- Learn inclusive design frameworks: Inclusive Design Principles
- Measure user experience for all: Metrics and KPIs
- Explore ethical product design: Ethical PM