These are just three innovative examples of accessible designing that led to wider adoption, beyond the intended user subgroup. This very theme underpinned the keynote speech during this year’s Diversity Project’s Accessibility webinar on Global Accessibility Day and comes up, recurringly, in research, about improved experiences for diverse groups when we get the design process right for people with a disability.

Change and Transformation

Digital transformation in the investment and savings sector is recognised as being behind; attributed to a culture of traditionalism and inertia, due to a lack of industry diversity.  However, asset and wealth management firms have historically serviced very traditional investor and adviser communities – with their own inertia and habitual behaviours. Technology and regulation also play their part; legacy operating systems lack interoperability and agility, while mandatory post-MIFID changes have hindered more creative-led initiatives. Looking ahead, is change on the horizon as we navigate through a global pandemic and uncertain future?

In 2020, two significant changes brought with them new ways of thinking; mounting pressure on firms to commit to ESG policies and an acceleration of online investors. According to a US study, companies committing to accessible inclusion under their ESG frameworks achieved a 28% higher return, while investment platforms reported significant growth, particularly from home-based working millennials, during the pandemic and periods of market price swing – bringing down the average investor age. Either side of this demographic is a next-generation cohort entering the workforce under auto-enrolment pension schemes, within an ageing population. By 2037, 1 in 4 of us, in the UK, are expected to be aged 65 and over.

Intergenerational needs

This intergenerational spread is transforming and reshaping our population. Future digital engagement requires a coexistent, yet differentiated, model. With more conditions, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Dyslexia, being correctly identified, and diagnosed, demand for accessibility in younger generations is increasing.  Nearly 1 in 5 people live with a disability, with a household spending and saving power of £274 billion.

As our population’s median age shifts towards later years, inclusive design practice must address the contextual and everchanging needs of vulnerable savers and those experiencing ageing functional limitations. As older investors live longer and move through their later-life stages, many will be affected by undiagnosed conditions: visual and hearing impairment, deterioration of fine motor skills and cognitive decline. By 2050, visual impairment in the UK is estimated to affect 4.1 million people, currently 2.1 million. Those aged 55 to 64-years old today, will move into the older age category over the next ten years; many already digitally connected and engaged across social media platforms.  This will shift much of our future focus towards digital experience and retention of older investors.

Practical approaches

Despite legislation and guidelines designed to support protected characteristics, many users remain affected by accessibility challenges. Digital inclusion goes beyond a checklist and disclosure statement. Primarily, it’s about user interaction. Four core experiences that firms should empathetically build into their designs are:

• Physical experience – all user movement as part of the interaction.
• Cognitive experience – time to digest and understand content.
• Auditory experience – sound quality, with alternative option experiences.
• Visual experience – colour contrast/fonts, column structuring and logical ordering.

Accessible designing involves hours of work and effort to adapt formats and channels, across language jurisdictions. Integrating universal design principles from the beginning of a project is less costly and complicated than attempting to adapt post-live products, with a blend of human and artificial intelligence, optimising the investor experience. Prototypes across all media – chatbots, websites, apps, video, print and email – should contain inclusive functionality; while wider test groups will help to capture real-life user experiences, without biased or pre-determined outcomes.

Design concepts should be as much about connecting customer journeys, as they are about making individual touchpoints accessible. A single Customer Communication Management (CCM) platform, integrating multiple data sources, offers greater personalised experiences and, therefore, a higher opportunity for inclusion - from incoming-to-outgoing messages, for both digital and traditional media. While documents should be adaptable to the screen size of any device, the FCA’s newly proposed Consumer Duty principles question how digestible lengthy T&Cs are via digital devices.

The most effective design solutions can still fail to address non-physical barriers. Online mistrust and investment complexity can lead to financial exclusion. Of 3.8 million cases of UK fraud, 15% were committed via digital channels, as opposed to 1%  through postal correspondence.  Developing secure and easy-to-use authentication, email encryption and signposting safety techniques can improve security for retail investors. Language remediation and localised translation can powerfully enhance an investor’s understanding and increase the digestion of information through a simplified or converted format.  This includes the use of plain language, avoiding jargon and reducing heavily formatted content - across interactive, visual and auditory channels for communications including, Key Investor Documents (KIDs) and bereavement instructions.

Conclusion

Inclusive marketing and communications are about creating the right interactions at the optimal time, under an investor-centric approach. Overcoming industry barriers built around institutional practices and regulatory restrictions can lead to adaptive cultural change and harness innovation, as wider technology evolves and improves accessible functionality. Ultimately, this combination will create stronger outcomes across the diverse needs of everyday savers.

John Dovey, Paragon Customer Communications

John Dovey is Client Relationship Director – Asset Wealth & Pensions at Paragon Customer Communications, a leading provider of end-to-end omnichannel services for regulatory and transactional communication solutions for some of the world’s foremost financial services companies.

He has worked closely in the financial services industry for almost two decades, driving customer engagement and outcomes in communication and digital strategy. During that time he has worked with, and supported, various organisations and stakeholders across the industry to deliver outstanding experiences.

With a range of experience and an extensive knowledge in both client and vendor roles within financial services, John is equipped with a deep understanding of industry challenges and regulatory requirements, including changing consumer trends in the market.

From the very beginning, Ba'alawi Design has pioneered a sustainable approach to design, through work that spans the spectrum from masterplans to furniture. The company’s approach is sensitive to location and culture, often combining the latest advances in building technology with techniques drawn from vernacular tradition; harnessing the skills, enthusiasm and knowledge of integrated design teams, clients and communities to create inspirational environments. By working together creatively from the start of a project, architects and engineers combine their knowledge to devise integrated, sustainable design solutions.

From appointment to completion, the Ba'alawi Design teams are supported by numerous in-house disciplines, including project management and a construction review panel. And to ensure consistency and personal service, the same core team sees a project through, from beginning to end. To hear more about the processes within the organisation and the company’s biggest challenges and achievements, Finance Monthly spoke to the founder of Ba'alawi Design – Architect Mohammed Al-Alawi.

What made you fall in love with architecture?  

What I find fascinating about architecture is the fact that it’s all about creating something that lasts for hundreds of years. Architects are not just concerned with the exterior and interior design of a building, but the environment as a whole. Architects get to design and create the character of a city and impact the way people live – that’s what made me fall in love with architecture as a whole.

What were your goals for the company when you founded it?

 At the start, my key objectives for the organization was to create a space where different ideas and perspectives are welcome and to create a culture of shared ownership around future product vision. I wanted to create a space for open and honest discussions, while encouraging employees to defend their points of view and analyse them with other team members

The most challenging part of running our own design studio is our constant desire to launch new side projects, which sometimes makes it hard to focus on being a design studio. While our side projects generate revenue on their own, they all detract from a singular focus.

What are the typical challenges that you face in the process of master planning?

A quote from illustrator and typographer Gemma O'Brien answers this questions perfectly:

"I think that increasingly, the lines will be blurred between technology, human experience and creativity. As technology advances, certain skills will no longer be needed as computers and automation make aspects of 'designing' accessible to all. The creative industries need to cultivate the 'human' by finding new ways to embed experiences, memories, stories and culture into creative output."

What are some of the key issues that you frequently face in relation to rules and regulations affecting architecture projects in Egypt? 

According to Build's Michael C. Place, "The biggest challenge designers face is the problem of finding good clients who actually value good design for itself – clients who don't perceive design as just another expense, but a worthwhile investment."

I’d say a challenge that we face frequently is the fact that legislation in relation to architecture projects and waiting for document approvals frequently slows us down. However, I believe that due to a new system in place, the processes in Egypt will improve soon.

In your opinion, what’s the impact technology will have on the architecture profession in the future?

In recent years it’s a common belief that technology will soon replace architects. However, I don’t believe that this will happen any time soon - the sensitivity of a human is too important in designing a building. Furthermore, good design in architecture is not definable, let alone replicable in computable terms.

Contact details:

Phone: +20100 6733 934

Email: alawi660.ma@gmail.com

Website: http://m3alawi.wix.com/alawi