The world has 1.3 billion blind people. This staggering number shows why inclusive design examples are not just optional features—they're crucial for millions of users.

Inclusive design covers everything from accessibility and age to culture, economic situation, gender, language, and human factors. Major brands have started to embrace this approach. Mastercard now offers touch-identifiable cards with special notches, while Kellogg's has created innovative packaging with high-contrast codes you can read from up to 3 meters away. Olay has also joined in by adding easy-open lids with wide plastic wings that help customers who face dexterity challenges.

These inclusive design products show both compassion and business sense. Let's look at 8 proven examples that show how big brands create products that work for everyone.

How to make true inclusive design?

True inclusive designs just need a systematic approach, not just good intentions. Research shows that 15% of the global population lives with a disability. This makes inclusive design both an ethical choice and a business necessity.

Start by recognizing your biases. Designers often create products for idealized versions of themselves instead of diverse ground users. You should challenge your assumptions early. Ask questions like: What if users access content without sound? Can people with dexterity issues interact with your interface? How would someone using a screen reader experience your product?

These key steps help implement inclusive design:

1. Conduct detailed user research with individuals from diverse backgrounds, abilities, ages, and cultures

   
   

2. Create multiple personas reflecting your diverse user base, not just one idealized user

   
   

3. Prioritize accessibility from the beginning—not as an afterthought

   
   

4. Apply universal design principles throughout your process

   
   

5. Test with diverse users and iterate based on their feedback

   
   

The four pillars from Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) should guide your design: make it perceivable, operable, understandable, and reliable. These principles ensure content works for everyone, whatever way they interact with your product.

Why Inclusive Design Matters?

The business case for inclusive design extends beyond moral duty—it's a strategic edge that affects your bottom line directly. Let's take a closer look at the numbers: more than 1 billion people worldwide live with some form of disability. This group represents a huge market with over USD 1.20 trillion in global spending power. People with disabilities in the United States alone control USD 490 billion in collective disposable income.

Most companies overlook this substantial consumer segment despite these impressive figures. This oversight isn't just an ethical mistake—it's a missed chance for growth. Studies show that companies making their products available to all see a remarkable 28% increase in revenue. This happens because accessible designs reach four times as many consumers.

Your products become more appealing to several groups when you design inclusively:

1. Elderly consumers (this matters because 1 in 2 adults over 65 have some form of disability)

   
   

2. People with temporary impairments or situational limitations

   
   

3. Non-native speakers and diverse cultural backgrounds

   
   

4. Anyone who values intuitive, user-friendly experiences

   
   

Better experiences emerge for everyone through inclusive design. Many mainstream conveniences started as accessibility solutions—voice control technology, autocomplete prompts, and high-contrast settings.

8 Inclusive Design Examples That Drive Growth

Mastercard Touch Card

Most people don't think about how blind or partially sighted individuals identify their credit cards. Mastercard solved this problem with their Touch Card design. This breakthrough shows how design can solve real problems that affect millions of people.

The Touch Card comes with distinct notches cut into the payment cards' sides. These notches let visually impaired users identify their cards by touch. Credit cards feature a squarish notch, debit cards have a rounded notch, and prepaid cards come with a triangular notch. Users can orient their cards and know which payment card they're using through this tactile system.

The design solves a growing problem. Payment cards now come with flat, streamlined designs without embossed names and numbers that blind people used before. This solution helps 2.2 billion people worldwide who live with visual impairments.

What makes Mastercard Touch Card impressive?

1. The Touch Card stands out because of its careful development process. Mastercard worked with the Royal National Institute of Blind People in the UK and VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired in the US. These partnerships ensured the design worked well.

   
   

2. The development team found that Braille wasn't the best solution since only one in ten blind people can read it. They chose a simpler approach with the notch system that works for everyone.

   
   

3. Banks worldwide have adopted this system. UniCredit leads the way as the first banking group to launch the card across 12 markets, reaching about 20 million cards. Westpac in Australia and CIBC in Canada now offer the Touch Card feature.

Kellogg’s Accessible Packaging

Kellogg's Europe joined forces with NaviLens in January 2022 to create packaging that blind and partially sighted people could use. Their new cereal boxes now feature a high-contrast colored code that NaviLens and NaviLens GO apps can detect from up to three meters away. Users don't need to know the code's exact location. The app reads out all packaging information including product details, ingredients, and allergen warnings after scanning.

The company first tested this technology on Coco Pops boxes in the UK. They later expanded it to all their cereal packaging across Europe. The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) helped develop this initiative that serves 2 million UK residents living with sight loss.

What makes Kellogg's Accessible Packaging impressive?

1. Kellogg's steadfast dedication to universal design principles makes their approach remarkable. Most accessibility features serve specific users, but this packaging improvement helps everyone while addressing visually impaired consumers' challenges.

   
   

2. NaviLens technology goes beyond simple information delivery—it gives users complete independence. Visually impaired people needed help to identify products or read nutritional information before this breakthrough. Now they can shop on their own and make informed food choices.

Microsoft Adaptive Accessories

People with limited mobility often struggle to use standard computer accessories. Microsoft created their Adaptive Accessories as a customizable system that helps users who can't work with regular mice and keyboards.

Microsoft's Adaptive Accessories system consists of three main parts: the Adaptive Mouse, Adaptive Hub, and Adaptive Buttons. Users can set up these tools to match their specific needs. The Adaptive Mouse's core works by itself or pairs with attachments like the mouse tail and thumb support.

Users can set it up for left or right-handed use. The Adaptive Hub connects to three devices and four Adaptive Buttons at once through wireless technology. These buttons come in different styles - D-pad, joystick, and dual button. Users can program them with custom shortcuts to make complex tasks simple.

What makes Microsoft Adaptive Accessories impressive?

1. The story behind these accessories makes them special. A father's love for his daughter started it all. John Helmes, Microsoft's Senior Designer, built the first prototype to help his daughter Jara. Her cerebral palsy affected her motor skills and caused light spasms that made regular mice hard to use. This family project grew through Microsoft's Hackathon and became a complete product line.

   
   

2. The best part? Users can create custom attachments through 3D printing, thanks to Microsoft's partnership with Shapeways. This freedom lets people with different mobility needs build solutions that work perfectly for them.

Olay Easy Open Lid

People with disabilities, limited dexterity, or arthritis often struggle to open jars and containers. Olay, owned by P&G, solved this everyday problem with their Easy Open Lid—a direct response to help the 15% of global consumers who live with disabilities.

Olay launched their Easy Open Lid prototype in 2021, developed specifically with disabled users in mind.

The lid fits Olay's popular products: Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, Vitamin C + Peptide 24 Face Moisturizer, Retinol 24 Face Moisturizer, and Collagen Peptide 24 Face Moisturizer. These available design examples show how common products can serve everyone better.

What makes Olay Easy Open Lid impressive?

1. The product stands out because of its user-driven development process. Olay asked consumers with various conditions to help—people with dexterity issues, limb differences, chronic joint pain, and vision impairments.

   
   

2. The company worked with Madison Lawson, a journalist and model living with muscular dystrophy. Physical therapists, occupational therapists, and UX experts also contributed throughout development.

   
   

3. Olay's choice not to patent the design makes it even more remarkable. They shared it openly with other beauty companies. Chris Heiert, Senior VP of Olay said, "Our hope is that others will join us in our efforts in making products more accessible for everyone".

Ikea ThisAbles Project

People with disabilities face daily challenges with regular furniture. IKEA's ThisAbles Project changed this reality with its groundbreaking initiative that helps people with special needs use standard furniture through smart add-ons.

IKEA Israel started the ThisAbles project by working with nonprofits Milbat and Access Israel to create solutions for people with disabilities. The team developed 13 innovative 3D-printable add-ons that transform existing IKEA products to meet various accessibility needs.

These clever designs help bridge the gap between standard furniture and special requirements. The add-ons range from sofa-lifting legs that make standing easier to bigger lamp switches for people who struggle with small controls.

What makes Ikea ThisAbles Project impressive?

1. IKEA made a bold choice to offer these designs free and open-source. People anywhere in the world can download and 3D-print these add-ons locally.

   
   

2. The project team organized a hackathon where product engineers worked directly with people who have disabilities.

   
   

3. This approach ensured the solutions met real needs instead of making assumptions about accessibility. The results speak for themselves - users in 127 countries downloaded the designs, and product sales grew 37% compared to the previous year.

Adaptive Clothing by Target and Zappos

Parents raising children with disabilities face a tough challenge. They struggle to find clothes that work well and look good. Major retailers Target and Zappos tackled this problem by creating adaptive clothing lines.

Target launched its adaptive apparel for kids and toddlers with disabilities through Cat & Jack in 2017. On top of that, Zappos created its own adaptive collection to serve people of all physical needs.

Both companies saw how regular clothing doesn't work well for people with disabilities - a reality that affects millions of families.

What makes Adaptive Clothing impressive?

1. The development story really stands out. Target designer Stacey Monsen couldn't find pants that fit both her autistic daughter's height and the diapers she wore.

   
   

2. Target learned directly from groups like Pageant of Hope and the National Federation of the Blind. Zappos built an advisory council to guide its adaptive line.

   
   

3. Both companies managed to keep their prices low throughout the process. Target did this by producing large quantities and using their existing fabrics.

Updated Disability Signage by Decathlon

The wheelchair symbol we see everywhere stands for accessibility but shows disability in a passive way. Decathlon Canada addressed this challenge with their innovative Ability Signs project that reimagined accessibility signage.

Decathlon's partnership with creative agency Rethink resulted in 25 unique "ability signs" that changed the standard wheelchair icon into dynamic portrayals of athletes with physical disabilities.

These new symbols show people's capabilities instead of their limitations. The signs display the wheelchair icon playing basketball, rugby, tennis and many more sports. These icons are now accessible to more people under a Creative Commons license that lets anyone download and use them rights-free.

What makes Decathlon's Signage impressive?

1. The project achieved remarkable success. Since its October 2021 launch, Ability Signs gathered 227 million organic impressions, reached 73 countries and drove a 439% increase in brand mentions.

   
   

2. Decathlon went beyond physical signs by creating Instagram stickers that let users transform existing signs in photos. Users can change the standard "person in a wheelchair" into someone playing tennis or boccia ball.

Shopify Diverse Illustrations

Shopify understands that illustration goes beyond decoration. It serves as a powerful communication tool that can reinforce or challenge stereotypes. Their work with diverse illustrations matches the physical inclusive design examples we've seen.

Shopify's illustration team completely reimagined how they show people on their platform. They moved away from creating generic figures with swapped attributes like purple skin. The team committed to illustrating specific, complete individuals that mirror their diverse user base.

This idea came up when they noticed that drawings of people with dark skin looked like "white people with purple skin". They decided to focus on illustrating "every person" or "any person" instead of an abstract average.

What makes Shopify Diverse Illustrations impressive?

1. Shopify's approach stands out because they deliberately rejected designer-focused imagery. They stopped using trendy esthetics like "Eames chairs and pour-over coffee" that appeal to designers more than actual merchants.

   
   

2. Their illustrations now show the real merchant experience - working from cramped back rooms instead of fancy coffee shops. This genuine approach resonates with their users' daily experiences.

Conclusion

Inclusive design is not a “nice-to-have”—it’s a foundation for innovation, growth, and true user-centered design. From Mastercard’s Touch Card to Olay’s Easy Open Lid, these examples prove that accessibility drives both impact and revenue. When companies design for the margins, they often improve the experience for everyone.

At Bricx, we help SaaS and product companies adopt these principles to create experiences that work for all their users.
Ready to future-proof your product with inclusive design? Book a call with us today.