Towards the tail end of last year, I published an interview in this space with two members of architectural firm Interior Architects about the importance of designing and developing accessible and inclusive restrooms. As I wrote at the time, although many people don’t consider it thusly, the reality is physical world accommodations like accessible restrooms (and curb cuts and disabled parking spaces) are examples of assistive technologies. What distinguishes them from, for example, the accessibility features on the iPhone is accessible restrooms and the like are analog pieces of tech rather than digital ones. As I often say, assistive technology isn’t a domain owned solely by computer software.
The team at LIXIL focuses on, according to the company’s website, building “pioneering water and housing products that make better homes a reality for everyone, everywhere.” LIXIL was founded in 2011 with the idea that aspects of a person’s home, from the kitchen to the shower and more, could be easier and more pleasurable to use—and, crucially for someone with disabilities, more accessible too.
“We often say we take trends and we take trends and insights and transform them into experience for consumers and value for brands. What it means concretely is that, of course in our industry, we look at design trends, because design is the number one driver of purchase decision for people who are looking to innovate their bathrooms and looking for products for that bathroom or kitchen,” Jean-Jacques L’Hénaff, a leader at LIXIL, said in an interview with me via videoconference in late May. “We look at trends [and] we look at where our products sit at the intersection of interior design and product design. We’re very sensitive in that they reflect people’s aspiration in terms of the affinity or design, but the way we approach is that we also put a functional lens to all of our work. We spend a lot of time observing people discussing things with people and uncover unmet needs.”
L’Hénaff further explained LIXIL’s modus operandi by saying the company tries to design and build products which represent people’s real needs and “things that people can’t articulate, but actually are getting in the way of them being able to use the products in a proper way and make their life better.” It’s his job at LIXIL, then, to ensure “make sure that my team has all the proper tools and space to actually do their work.”
When asked about accessibly designing real world objects, L’Hénaff shared an anecdote about wearing glasses to see better as he’s getting older. One of the biggest problems, he told me, is comfortably reading text. L’Hénaff pointed to text on the complimentary bottles of shampoo given by hotels. There are a lot of things manufacturers can do, he said, to design the label in such a way that text is clear and easy to read with bigger fonts. Likewise, accessible bathrooms, he added, can be better with toilets that are at the right height so as to maximize comfort. “I think a well-designed product encompasses many contingencies [to accommodate] as possible groups of users,” L’Hénaff said.
When asked about the state of the industry and of the marketplace, L’Hénaff said LIXIL is “pretty tuned” into what’s going on, adding he spends a lot of time at home improvement stores such as Home Depot. Moreover, L’Hénaff said a primary source of learning and gathering information is by doing at-home interviews with people. Obviously, the pandemic’s mandate that everyone isolate from one another necessitated virtual meetings, but the overall purpose remained. It’s important to LIXIL, L’Hénaff explained, to observe people and talk to them about pain points and other points of friction. Watching people do everyday tasks like cooking and cleaning are good scenarios in which to identify problem areas in terms of function and usability. “It’s only through deep observations that we can we can uncover these pain points and actually design around them and make them easier,” L’Hénaff said. “Direct connection with people with groups of users really are our primary source of information to understand what we can do better.”
L’Hénaff keenly emphasized the idea that good design is accessible design, insofar as empathetic and inclusive products benefit everyone. Grab bars are useful to anyone, regardless of age or ability. More legible, easy-to-read signage at train stations or other places are useful to anyone, regardless of visual acuity. Broadly, one of the upswinging trends L’Hénaff envisions for the future is making technologies such as grab bars becoming less institutional in appearance and more aligned with a person’s desired aesthetic for their environment. Someone who’s undertaking a bathroom renovation may want grab bars for accessibility, but may not want bars that clash with the overall vibe. Having tools that blend in, L’Hénaff said, goes a long way to “restore dignity” in people.
“We should feel that we are ourselves. We should not feel we are diminished in any way in the environment that is around us,” he added.
Looking towards the future, L’Hénaff told me LIXIL intends to “continue going out and try to understand better [and] more segment of the population… that’s going to keep being our main driving force.” He added the company is pushing forward o making bathrooms more accessible by focusing on products like zero threshold shower patterns that enable people to get in and out of the shower without danger of tripping. Likewise, from a technological standpoint, L’Hénaff believes automatic flushing technology will be better as the sensor tech improves. Elsewhere, he said LIXIL is looking at how to make contributions in how people interact with their phones, cars, and other aspects of life.
“I think what I love about technology today is there’s so much of it available,” L’Hénaff said of technology’s ubiquitousness. “You can integrate it wherever it makes sense, but [it’s not] necessarily designed well. Don’t put the solution before the program—look at the problem first and develop the solution after and build the appropriate one.”
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