Just design

This paper develops an explicitly normative account of design by connecting design decisions to justice, public reasoning and the distribution of opportunities. Its EDI value lies in showing that fairness cannot be added after a solution has been produced: it must shape how problems are defined, whose claims count and how conflicts between needs are negotiated. The authors move the discussion beyond universal access as a technical target and toward design as a deliberative enterprise involving people who experience the consequences of design. For EDI-oriented practice, the paper provides language for questioning apparently neutral criteria such as efficiency, normality and majority preference. It is important because unequal outcomes often originate upstream—in briefs, evidence and participation—before they appear in the final artefact. The contribution therefore supports more accountable design governance as well as more inclusive outputs.