Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) Hardcover – October 16, 2018

Dear Kat,I will often write a brief review lauding the merits of a recently finished book, sharing thoughts and observations about its contents. However, in this case, I wanted to take a slightly different approach and write a note directly to you as the author. This 'review' is going to be a distillation of of your efforts have impacted me personally.I stumbled on your book purely by chance. Lucky for me though that I opted to read it right away. I am currently pursuing some academic work in the field of health and rehabilitation leadership, and am enrolled in a course this semester on Diversity, Inclusion, and Accommodation. Further, I've spent my career supporting individuals with disabilities, and I also happen to live with my own disability. Your book's premise was quite attractive to me given what I was pursuing and its relevance to my life's work.One of the issues that I've struggled with over the years is articulating and consolidating the sheer breadth of issues faced by the broad community of persons living with disabilities. How do we align the interests of people who have needs that may be at cross-purposes with each other? For example, what works for a person with a vision impairment might not be very supportive of someone living with a seizure disorder.Kat - you offer a refreshing perspective on how we can collectively support each other. You don't simply talk about universal design; you don't lecture your reader about social justice; and you don't dwell on overly technical issues. Instead - you appeal to your reader to consider using the basis of inclusion as a driving force for creativity. You encourage your reader to take an expansive mindset that draws on the experiences of the excluded as a source of inspiration and continuous improvement. In your manner of writing and sharing, you effectively dismantle that sense of sheer overwhelm that we face when we feel like we want to make things right, but simply are paralyzed by uncertainty of where to start!The answer has been in plain sight all along -- it's in the design! How we build the world that we live in dictates the experience that we create for ourselves and for others. While your expertise focused on the software experience and the digital infrastructure, a thoughtful reader is able to extrapolate meaningful insights into how we shape the physical stuff we use, the software we interact with, and the policies we live within. Everything we think, say, and do is a gesture of design. We craft our spoken word, aiming for explicit impact with careful selection of vocabulary -- this is design. We arrange our furniture for aesthetics and practicality -- this is design. We move in a certain direction toward a specific destination -- this is design!Thank you Kat for sharing your experiences, your insights, and your wisdom. I am a better person for it.Michael

As a middle school principal that serves a variety of specialized programs I enjoyed the read and the different ways to conceptualize inclusion and belonging in the school setting.

Was really helpful in opening my mind, and eyes, to the challenge of inclusion / exclusion. Enjoyed how well it read and all the great quotable lines. Will put this on my must read list for my design students.

If you make products and can’t answer ‘who am I excluding’, you should read this book. Every day people have to adapt to make products work for them. You’re one of those people. Think about it: we all experience challenges with objects in our lives because of permanent or temporary disabilities. Kat provides a framework for identifying exclusion and tools to make products that allow everyone to use them. She shares stories and anecdotes that help connect the methods described. Mismatch is an excellent guidebook for anyone creating experiences for customers.

During the early days of my career within product creation at Nike, the maxims of Simply & Go, The Consumer Decides, and Be A Sponge were constantly reinforced. With Simplify and Go, we were encouraged to trust the expertise of others and ask questions when we did not know the answers. The Consumer Decides urged us never take them for granted and maintain a wide on-going dialogue sharing ideas and insights (back and forth) in order to truly understand their individual perspectives. Be A Sponge was, above all else, maintaining curiosity. Opening your eyes, ears and heart, and constantly look all around you.All of these are still relevant when approaching design but what Kat Holmes amplifies in Mismatch is the need to dive a bit deeper, reach out a bit farther, talk and listen a bit more and maybe work slightly harder. We need to step outside our comfort zone in order to grow individually and also to improve upon a products own design elasticity. Those who have lived through exclusion have extraordinary insights that highlight the biases in current solutions and approaches. They need to be equal partners in our exploration and process.Kat reinforces the idea that we, as designers, developers, product managers, all have the power to make change happen. If we think about disability as mismatched interactions versus a personal health condition, we can establish a new and profound mindset. A new approach that when designing for inclusion, we ultimately are designing for uncertainty and our future selves. There is also business justification rooted in an inclusive process but most importantly, its designing product with clear intent and purpose that makes things a bit better so that more people can play.

I purchased the book because one of the Adobe MAX speakers used one of Kat's illustrations in her presentation. The book has been such a delight to read. I wasn't expecting a focus on exclusion to be a strategy for designing for inclusion, but it makes sense that you have to identify the problem that needs to be solved. I'm not an avid reader, but I've read 3/4 of the book in just a few days because it's well written and makes me want to read more about what she has to share.I found many of her examples very easy to relate to. I wish I had discovered this book sooner!

Don’t enter this book thinking it’s about coding accessible websites or meeting WCAG guidelines in a product. It’s so much more than that. Mismatch is an info-rich guide to aligning your priorities and practice to creating better solutions by including more people. Step out of the accessibility-as-a-checklist mind and into a truly inclusive ethos. Great for designers, developers, business people, and really anyone interested in creating a just offering in the world.

Livro bastante abrangente ao falar de inclusão. Muito interessante para designers e pessoas que trabalham com produtos. Super recomendo.

This book provides a new take on how we should approach design. From design thinking and now design for the minority. It takes a new approach to how we approach what we design and how we are thinking as well! It is a very great read!

Este libro ha sido una de mis lecturas favoritas de este año. La autora explica cómo la inclusión afecta el diseño desde el punto de vista de la exclusión en los usuarios. Definitivamente es un excelente libro para cualquier persona, no sólo para diseñadores. 100% recomendado!

I'm disappointed of shallowness of this book from such author, boring and far below my expectations as a designer. There aren't many insights worth reading unless you are a project manager who heard something about inclusion or need to quickly understand some obvious things about inclusive design.There is no single chapter worth remembering.

This is a thought provoking and well argued book that is presented in a very engaging manner. It is my go to reference on inclusive design. I highly recommend it to any and all to read.