Designing for Diversity or Designing for All

This paper is based on an ongoing reflective process on the notion of Universal Design (UD), and aims to discuss its specific application to product design. It forms part of PhD research being conducted at Aveiro University, Portugal, which examines the concept of UD and its potential use in industrial product development. Thus we hope to contribute towards a broader understanding of the existing rapport between mainstream industrial products research and development and human diversity, as far as physical, sensory and cognitive capacities are concerned. We present our approach to the concept of UD and the systematization of two other related concepts: Universal Use and Designing for Diversity.