“The government must consult the target users when designing structures, facilities, and devices.”
The steep ramp on the EDSA Busway in Quezon City earned flak and evoked negative emotions from the citizens. The accessibility law BP 344 is “an act to enhance the mobility of disabled persons by requiring buildings, institutions, establishments, and public utilities to install facilities and other devices.” This ramp was supposed to address this law, but failed to meet its purpose.
According to the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), the ramp was constructed since the elevator is on a different level than the footbridge. Instead of aiding persons with disability (PWDs) to be mobile and independent, the ramp can cause accidents because of its steepness with an inclination of 14.15 degrees as measured by the inclinometer by Arch. Armand Eustaquio. He is one of the proponents of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) accessibility law. According to BP 344, the inclination should only be 4.8 degrees for the PWD ramp. So, the EDSA busway ramp is 10 degrees steeper.
A video was also shown where an individual who used a wheelchair found it challenging to use the ramp. Some citizens even made memes and depicted them as water slides. Despite all these, the sad part is that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) still insists they have carefully thought and planned the design. They pointed out that the ramps were also intended for senior citizens and pregnant women. However, it is unsafe for them to use it as well. So, to appease the citizen, their solution is to place safety personnel on the ramp to assist PWD. This is an excellent example of a bad design.
So why do designers need to empathize with users? As they say, designers are not necessarily the users. “Empathy in design is the ability to step into another person’s shoes and imagine how that person feels, thinks, and acts to use that understanding in designing” (Mattelmäki, 2006). Empathy acts as a driving principle for comprehending user’s needs and behaviors. By empathizing with the users’ experiences and challenges, designers can gain an understanding of building an environment, products, and systems that cater to a broad spectrum of abilities and characteristics.
Designers who adopt empathetic thoughts can create environments and experiences that resonate passionately with users, ultimately leading to higher pleasure and engagement. Empathy is crucial in determining meaningful and evocative design solutions across various spheres. Therefore, the government must consult the target users when designing structures, facilities, and devices. This ensures that the designs are not only functional but also considerate of the users’ needs and experiences. By creating iterative prototypes and gathering user feedback, the final design can be tailored to meet the community’s diverse needs, thereby ensuring that the taxpayers’ money is well-spent.
The goal of the PWD ramp is to minimize users’ physical and cognitive effort, ensure user safety, maximize comfort and increase user pleasure. It should serve the purpose of its construction. Bawal ang PWDe na yan!
I want to leave you with this quote from David M. Kelley of IDEO: “The main tenet of design thinking is empathy for the people you’re trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing—building empathy for the people that you’re entrusted to help.”
The author is the first Filipino recipient to be awarded the Fellowship in 2023 from the International Association of Ergonomics (IEA) and the Southeast Asian Network of Ergonomics Societies (SEANES) Educator 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. She is also the president of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of the Philippines (HFESP). She is a full professor and former Department Chairperson of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) at De La Salle University. Aside from this, she served the conference chair of the Asian Council of Ergonomics and Design and the Southeast Asian Network of Ergonomics Societies (ACED-SEANES, 2020). She is lead editor of Convergence of Ergonomics and Design Proceedings ACED-SEANES, 2020 in Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing. She is also the editor-in-chief of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) Ascent Website and Online Repository. She can be reached at alma.gutierrez@dlsu.edu.ph.
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.
