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With increasing age comes a decline in capability, yet also increased wealth and free time. Where previous generations accepted that capability loss and an inability to use products and services came hand in hand, the baby-boomer generation now approaching retirement are less likely to tolerate products that they cannot use, especially if due to unnecessary demands on their capabilities.

Typically, people are viewed as being either able-bodied or disabled, with products being designed for one category or the other. In fact capability varies continuously, and reducing the capability demands of a product results in more people being able to use the product as well as increased satisfaction for those who previously had difficulty.

When the capability demand of a product exceeds that of the user – they can no longer use it. Often this is seen as the person’s fault for having a poor memory, reduced strength or imperfect vision; inclusive design places the responsibility with product designers to ensure that the capability levels required to use a product are as low as possible. There are several ways to achieve this goal without compromising the features or aesthetics for the more able population, this will be elaborated in further detail in the Inclusive design process section.