Fair by design: Addressing the paradox of inclusive design approaches

The article identifies a central paradox of inclusive design: widening participation can still flatten differences when designers convert heterogeneous lives into generalised user categories. Read through an EDI lens, its main contribution is to distinguish numerical inclusion from fair inclusion. It asks who is represented, whose knowledge influences decisions and whether design procedures allow affected people to contest how their needs are framed. This matters because a product can serve more users while preserving unequal power between designers and those being designed for. The paper therefore strengthens design knowledge by positioning inclusion as an ethical and deliberative process, not simply a matter of reach, compliance or ergonomic coverage. It is particularly valuable for evaluating personas, user samples and co-design activities where the appearance of diversity may conceal limited decision-making power.