Tag: inclusive design

Yahoo! JAPAN: Hands On Search

Yahoo! JAPAN introduces what it calls “Hands On Search”. A hands-on search experience that lets visually impaired children explore online concepts through touch, not screens.

A voice-activated kiosk is set up so children can speak what they want to “search” for. The system recognises the verbal request, pulls a corresponding 3D model, and prints a small physical object. For the first time, children can hold what they usually only hear described. From animals to landmarks and buildings.

Search becomes a physical output

The mechanism is voice input plus 3D printing output. Instead of returning text, images, or audio, the search result is manufactured into a tactile model the child can feel in their hands.

In accessible technology design, the strongest innovation is often a translation layer that converts a dominant medium into the sense that an excluded audience can reliably use.

Why it lands

It reframes “search” as something more than browsing. It becomes discovery you can share in a classroom. The moment the object prints is also the moment learning becomes concrete. It is not an abstract promise about inclusion. It is a visible, touchable outcome.

Extractable takeaway: If your experience is inherently visual, do not just add narration. Add an equivalent output that preserves shape and scale in a form people can physically inspect, so learning moves from description to direct exploration.

What to steal for product teams

  • Design for the missing sense, not the average user. Start with the constraint, then build the interface around it.
  • Make the interaction one-step. Voice request in. Physical result out. No menus, no setup rituals.
  • Curate the object library. Accessibility fails when content quality is inconsistent. The “catalogue” is part of the product.
  • Prototype in real learning environments. Schools and educators reveal whether the tool supports teaching, not just demos.

A few fast answers before you act

What is Hands On Search in one sentence?

It is a concept machine that turns spoken searches into small 3D-printed models, so visually impaired children can “touch” search results.

Why does 3D printing matter here?

Because it converts information into form. For someone who cannot see images, a physical model can communicate shape, proportion, and structure directly.

Is this a campaign or a product direction?

It plays like a campaign film, but the underlying idea is a product direction. Search as an output system that can render to different senses depending on user needs.

What is the biggest risk in copying this idea?

Building a beautiful prototype without a sustainable content pipeline. If the object library is thin, slow to expand, or low fidelity, usefulness drops quickly.

Wimpy: Braille Burgers

Wimpy wanted to let visually impaired people know that it offered braille menus in all of its restaurants. Instead of announcing it with a poster, it turned the message into the product itself.

With the help of skilled chefs, sesame seeds were meticulously placed on burger buns so the seeds formed a braille message. The bun becomes a tactile line of communication. You do not have to ask. You can read it with your fingertips.

In mass-market food and retail brands, inclusive design travels fastest when people can discover it in the experience itself rather than having to request it.

A message built for the audience

This is a campaign that respects the medium. If the audience reads through touch, the communication should be touchable. The craft is the point. Someone had to care enough to place every seed, because that effort signals the same care the brand claims to have for accessibility.

It is also a quiet reversal of how “accessibility features” often get communicated. Normally, the burden is on the customer to ask for the braille menu. Here, the brand leads with the fact that it is already available.

Why it lands

It is specific, not generic. The idea is built around one concrete barrier, then removes it in a way that feels native to the category.

It creates earned attention without begging for it. The story spreads because it is surprising and easily retold. A burger bun you can read is instantly legible as a headline.

It avoids “awareness theater”. The message is not “we support inclusion” in abstract terms. It is “here is the inclusive thing, already made real”.

Extractable takeaway. Inclusion marketing lands when the communication channel matches the audience’s access mode. Here, the message is readable by touch at the exact moment of consumption, so the customer discovers the braille-menu promise without needing to ask.

What to steal

  • Match the channel to the audience. If your audience cannot access the default channel, redesign the channel. Do not just add copy.
  • Let the product do the talking. The most credible claims show up as a behavior, feature, or ritual inside the experience.
  • Make the proof tactile or visible. When a customer can feel the difference, you do not need to over-explain it.
  • Use craft as a credibility signal. The effort in execution communicates intent more strongly than any tagline.

A few fast answers before you act

What was Wimpy trying to communicate?

That braille menus were available across its restaurants, and that visually impaired customers were welcome without extra friction.

How did the “braille burgers” actually work?

Sesame seeds were placed on the bun in braille patterns that could be read by touch. The braille spelled out a short message or burger description.

Why is this more effective than a standard ad?

Because the audience can directly access the message. It does not depend on sight, and it does not depend on asking staff for information.

What is the business intent behind an inclusion idea like this?

To increase awareness and usage of an accessibility feature, strengthen brand warmth, and reduce the “I did not know you had that” barrier that stops people from choosing the brand.

What is the most transferable lesson?

Build the message in the same mode your audience uses. When the communication format is accessible by design, the campaign becomes self-validating.