Stop designing for categories, start designing for life in motion

We have been taught to segment people into neat design personas: young versus old, able-bodied versus disabled, patient versus caregiver. Those categories may help on a spreadsheet, but they rarely reflect real life. Ability is not a fixed identity. It is a state that shifts across hours, seasons, and decades.

Most people are not “disabled” or “able bodied.” They are navigating a continuum. A parent carrying a toddler, a traveler pulling luggage, a cook with wet hands, someone recovering from surgery, a person with arthritis on a cold morning, an older adult managing fatigue at the end of the day. These are not edge cases. They are the mainstream experience of modern life.

If design is meant to serve people, then the next step is clear: Stop designing for categories and start designing for fluidity.

FLUIDITY IS THE NEW ACCESSIBILITY

Accessibility is often framed as a feature set for a specific group. That framing keeps it stuck in the margins. A better lens is to treat accessibility as the practical reality of everyday variability. People’s abilities change with context. Lighting changes. Noise changes. Energy changes. Hands get full. Attention splits. Stress rises. Injuries happen. Bodies age. Life intervenes.

Once you design for that reality, the business case becomes obvious. Products that work across more conditions work for more people. They become relevant in more moments, which increases adoption, satisfaction, and repeat use.

DESIGN FOR “ABILITY STATES,” NOT DEMOGRAPHICS

A useful shift is to map “ability states” instead of user categories. Ask not only who the user is, but the condition they are in when they use the product.

Consider a few common states that literally affect every body:

• One-handed use, because the other hand is full.
• Low vision use, due to glare, darkness, or fatigue.
• Low dexterity use, due to cold, arthritis, injury, or stress.
• Limited mobility use, due to pregnancy, pain, aging, or recovery.
• Cognitive load, because the user is rushed, distracted, or overwhelmed.

These states are not rare. They recur daily. Designing for them creates better products for everyone without forcing people into a label.

MAKE ADAPTABILITY FEEL INVISIBLE

One risk is that “designing for everyone” can become code for complicated. The goal is not to add settings and switches. The goal is to build adaptability into the form and interaction so it feels natural.

Good examples are usually quiet:

• A handle that invites multiple grips without looking specialized.
• Controls that are intuitive without requiring instruction.
• Packaging that opens cleanly without brute force.
• A product that communicates how to use it through shape and touch.

The best inclusive design feels obvious, not assistive.

THE STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Fluidity is also a brand strategy. When customers feel a product “keeps up with them,” it earns trust. It becomes the object they rely on through different phases of life. That is a deeper form of loyalty than preference. It is dependency in the best sense of the word.

The future of inclusive design is not about creating more categories. It is about removing the need for categories altogether. If products are designed for life in motion, they will work for every body, more often, and for longer.

Ben Wintner is CEO of Michael Graves Design.