Working Longer and Happier: Inclusive Design for the Ageing Workforce

This paper estimates the population to be influenced by China's policy of postponed retirement age and provides design strategies and suggestions in the workplace for the ageing workforce from the perspective of inclusive design. First, the literature review about western design principles and practices for the ageing workforce is conducted. It is estimated that China would face approximately 100 million elderly workers in the near future with diverse physical conditions and demands. However, the design research and practices dedicated to ageing workforce in the workplace are comparatively weak in China. Inclusive design, one of the design approaches mainly focusing on ageing problems in developed countries, as well as its theory and methodology, could act as a good reference for Chinese policymakers and designers. Then based on the concept of inclusive design, a human-centered design model is established and design suggestions from four aspects are presented. Finally, two cases are further discussed to illustrate the idea of inclusive design.