Measuring Universal Design: Case of the Bathroom

Abstract

Universal design is a very new area of design research. Because it has its roots in the design for disability or design for the aged, there is a belief that universal design is same thing, a new buzzword for an old idea. In reality, universal design is very different from both of them. Never before has a research clarified the differences between accessible and universal design. This pioneering research in the field of universal design uses empirical methods to evaluate bathroom designs and draw distinctions between universal and accessible environments. Measuring Universal Design is part of a research and development project, The Universal Bathroom. Its results provide information about the properties that make environments accessible or universal.