Research Through Co-design for Connecting Design for All and Policy Ergonomics

This paper frames theoretical reflections to connect the Design for All (DfA) approach with Policy Ergonomics (PE) through the Research Through Co-design (RTC) theory. We used the RTC theory for connecting variables of the RTC model with DfA by assuming the context of policy-making. We also used a polynomial to express the diversity in the RTC model. As a result, we obtained the Polynomial of Diversity (PoD) to make the diversity as a tangible value in the RTC model. The PoD describes the diversity in terms of different weights of the co-designers in the RTC model. In practical terms, the PoD helps practitioners, designers, designers-researchers, policy-makers to reflect on those variables that can influence the application of the DfA approach in the context of policy-making. At the same time the application of the RTC theory through the PoD has the potential of co-creating useful knowledge for identifying innovative, sustainable and inclusive policies in different policy-making contexts. Finally, this paper provides a theoretical connection among DfA, RTC and the policy-making context highlighting the need to define the field of study in PE.