Re:Design

Mima
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What does human-centred, inclusive design really look like in practice - not as a checklist, not as an afterthought, but as thinking that has the power to transform the spaces, systems and environments we interact with every day? Re:Design is a podcast series from Mima, a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy with nearly 50 years of experience helping organisations create environments and experiences that genuinely work for people across different bodies, identities and ways of engaging with the world. Across this series, we bring together experts from museums, rail and transport, green spaces, technology start-ups, wayfinding and disability innovation to explore what inclusive design looks like when it's embedded from the very start. We hear how co-design workshops with nursery children transformed a gallery, why disabled people make 30% fewer journeys a year, what it takes to make a forest truly welcoming, how a start-up pivoted its entire platform by listening to users, and why the best wayfinding goes far beyond signs on walls. We talk about lived experience, co-creation, sensory design, accessibility, neurodiversity, the business case for inclusion, and the journeys people don't make because the system wasn't designed with them in mind. And we explore a clear thread that runs through every conversation: when people are placed at the centre of decision-making, better solutions emerge - for everyone. These are practical, honest conversations grounded in real projects, real challenges and real learning. If you believe that designing with people - not just for them - leads to richer, smarter, more rewarding outcomes, this series is for you. New episodes released fortnightly from 11/05/26.

  1. 11h ago

    Cross-Sector Takeaways: Human Centred Design for the Future

    Across this series, we’ve explored what human-centred, inclusive design looks like in practice - in galleries and museums, transport networks, green spaces, technology start-ups and complex wayfinding environments. While these settings may seem very different, a single thread runs through every conversation: when people are placed at the centre of decision-making, better solutions emerge. For everyone. In this final episode, Mima’s Emily Yates, Lisa Baker and Adam Parkes step back from individual projects to ask the bigger question: what does human-centred design really mean for the future? They draw together the shared themes, lessons and opportunities that have emerged across the series - and offer practical insight for anyone wanting to embed this thinking into their own work. A recurring theme throughout the series has been the shift from designing for users to designing with them - from consultation to genuine co-design. Adam revisits the REWILDlife project from Episode 3, where iterative inclusive research with teachers, children, conservationists and university students completely pivoted the platform’s direction, revealing two distinct user groups that hadn’t been anticipated. Lisa recalls the immersive lived experience workshop at Sherwood Pines from Episode 4, where spending a day in the forest alongside disabled visitors generated the insights that shaped an entire pre-visit information strategy. Emily draws out the distinction between consulting and co-creating: “to consult, we listen and learn; to co-create, we reshape, engage, re-engage and repeat.” The episode explores how research methods and evidence-based design approaches transfer across sectors - from train station interchange research with the Connected Places Catapult to ethnographic visitor experience work at a major UK museum, and even to shaping an airport restaurant menu around the nutritional needs of anxious passengers. Emily adds that the cross-sector word that unites it all is comfort: whether designing a multi-faith room, a quiet gallery space, a passenger lounge or a calm zone at a station, the importance of comfort is universal. We make the accessibility ROI case in full. Emily highlights the Purple Pound - the spending power of disabled people, worth over £300 billion to UK businesses annually - and challenges the persistent misconception that designing for inclusion carries an extra cost. Lisa frames human centred design as a risk management tool: “learn before you spend” is her golden nugget for anyone holding the purse strings. And Adam returns to the Community Rail Network’s finding from Episode 2: for every £1 invested in community rail, there is approximately £18 of return in social, environmental and economic terms. The episode closes with a clear-eyed look at the challenges - navigating conflicting access standards, managing long-term iterative engagement, and the honest acknowledgement that nothing can be fully accessible. But the message is one of momentum and optimism: universal design is the goal, delight is part of the brief, and it is never too late to start embedding inclusive design into a project. Some engagement is always better than none. A fitting, forward-looking close to a series that has made the case, episode by episode, that designing with people - not just for them - leads to richer, smarter and more sustainable outcomes for everyone. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

  2. Jul 6

    Inclusive wayfinding: translating spaces into information

    Wayfinding is often treated as a final layer - a set of signs applied at the end of a project. But in reality it begins much earlier, shaped by spatial layout, language, lighting, materials, sound, culture and lived experience. What does it really take to make a space legible, intuitive and inclusive design for everyone - including those who navigate it very differently? In this episode we explore inclusive wayfinding in depth - from pre-visit information and multisensory signage, to the common misconceptions that leave people feeling lost, confused or simply not catered for. We talk about the difference between static and dynamic wayfinding environments, why maps aren’t always the answer, and how neurodiversity, language and culture all shape the way people interpret space. Our first guest is Holly Roberts, Interpretation Planner at The Creative Core, a visitor experience design studio based in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Holly’s background spans 16th-century history, exhibition design and broader experience design, and she is neurodivergent herself - bringing lived experience directly into her work. Holly shares how The Creative Core applies a Think, Feel, Do framework to wayfinding challenges across museums, heritage sites and cultural venues, including current live projects at Emirates Old Trafford and Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Our second guest is Dániel Hajas, Innovation Manager at the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) at University College London. Dániel lost his sight at 16 and went on to earn a PhD in Informatics from the University of Sussex, co-founding Grapheel, a social enterprise making STEM resources more accessible through tactile graphics. At GDI Hub - the WHO’s first Global Collaborating Centre on Assistive Technology - he drives innovation in the assistive technology and disability innovation field. Dániel brings a deeply personal and practical perspective on what it means to navigate complex environments as a blind person and guide dog owner, and the value of inclusive prototyping and co-design in surfacing the unexpected tensions that no single designer could anticipate alone. We discuss why the best inclusive wayfinding feels intuitive rather than obvious, and why introducing it too late in a project limits the tools available to designers. Holly and Dániel explore the value of multisensory information delivery - tactile, auditory and visual - and why assuming one format suits all is one of the most common mistakes in the field. Dániel shares how floor texture, ambient audio and consistent spatial geometry can do more for blind and partially sighted visitors than technology alone, while Holly explains how neurodiversity UX considerations - from colour palettes in dementia care spaces to cognitive load in high-footfall environments - must be built in from the very first design conversation. We also tackle the thorny question of multilingual signage, the gap between static and dynamic wayfinding environments, and why inclusive research with real end users remains the single most important thing any design team can do - not as a tick-box at RIBA Stage 3, but as a living, iterative part of the entire process. A conversation that will resonate with anyone designing spaces that need to work for everyone. A rich and wide-ranging conversation that proves there is no single manual for totally inclusive wayfinding - and that’s precisely what makes getting it right so important, and so rewarding. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

  3. Jun 22

    Spaces to breathe: the case for inclusive outdoor design

    Spending time outdoors can improve our physical health, reduce stress, build community and deepen our emotional connection to the world around us. But for many people, barriers appear long before they arrive - in the decision to visit, the journey to get there, and the feeling that a green space simply isn’t for them. So how do we make nature truly accessible from the very first point of contact? In this episode we explore the full inclusive journey to nature - from pre-visit information and representation, to on-site infrastructure, sensory friendly play areas, and the emotional connections that keep people coming back. We talk about lived experience, dignity, community, and why accessible design in outdoor spaces is as much about cultural welcome as it is about physical access. Our first guests are Ellen Devine, Wellbeing Projects Manager, and Kate Allan, Programme Manager for the Defra-funded Access for All programme, both at Forestry England. Ellen’s focus is on connecting people with forests for their health and wellbeing, while Kate is leading a £3 million investment to improve the accessibility of the nation’s forests - from Changing Places toilets and mobility scooters to inclusive play areas and PECS communication boards. Together they share how co-design with disabled visitors and their families has shaped real, life-changing improvements across Forestry England sites. We’re also joined by Amber Merrick-Potter, Public Engagement Producer at the National Trust. Amber leads on public engagement and nature connection programmes including the Trees of Hope project - the initiative that saw 49 saplings grown from the felled Sycamore Gap tree gifted to communities across the UK. She is also a Churchill Fellow who has researched and written extensively on best practice in nature connection. We discuss how the Sensory Trust’s Access Chain model reveals the barriers that exist at every stage of a visit to nature - and why organisations too often jump straight to the on-site experience without addressing the decision-to-visit stage. Kate shares how inclusive research with one family transformed the design of a Changing Places facility at Thetford Forest, while Amber explains how the National Trust’s Blossom programme and Go Jauntly Naturehood walks bring nature into inner-city communities. Ellen makes the accessibility ROI case for nature - showing how emotional connection with the natural environment drives both wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviour. We also hear about Forestry England’s Virtual Forests hub, which brings nature to people who can’t physically get outdoors, and why cross-sector partnership - across transport, health, education and the natural environment - is essential to making inclusive placemaking in green spaces the norm rather than the exception. A warm, hopeful and deeply practical conversation about moving beyond simply opening gates - and creating outdoor spaces where everyone feels welcome, represented and able to belong. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

  4. Jun 8

    How human-centred design helps start-ups get to market

    Start-ups are often driven by bold ideas, new technology or innovative data. But too often teams fall into the trap of building what they think people need, rather than what users actually value. So how can human centred design help start-ups test assumptions early, uncover real needs, de-risk investment and avoid expensive mistakes? In this episode we explore how inclusive design thinking and user-centred research can transform the start-up journey - from first idea through to minimum viable product and market positioning. We talk about rapid prototyping, inclusive prototyping, futures forecasting, funding strategies, and why starting small but meaningful often leads to stronger, more sustainable growth. Our first guest is Ben Peacock, Co-founder and Managing Director of REWILDlife, a start-up creating AI-powered conservation technology that enables people to connect with nature at a local and global scale. Through the Design to Deliver programme, Ben and his team developed the Nature of Things platform - which uses live GPS species data and AI-based storytelling to give nature a voice and inspire environmental action. Ben shares how evidence-based design and user research completely reframed REWILDlife’s product strategy, leading to a dual-interface platform for both conservationists and the general public. Our second guest is Giulia Bencini, Senior Service Designer at the Satellite Applications Catapult, part of the Innovate UK Catapult Network. Giulia works within the User-Centred Design team, ensuring that innovation happens with real people and real problems in mind. She brings insight into how the Catapult supports UK companies to accelerate the invention and adoption of space data and technology - and how design thinking plays a critical role in helping start-ups move from concept to commercially viable product. We discuss why making the right thing matters more than making the thing right, and how inclusive research with real end users - from conservationists to primary school children - can completely pivot a product’s direction. Ben shares how journey mapping and rapid iterative prototyping helped REWILDlife reach MVP faster and at lower cost, while Giulia explains how minimum viable products allow start-ups to generate revenue and test value before committing to complex, expensive builds. We also explore the accessibility ROI of design - how to make the business case for design thinking when budgets are tight - and hear practical advice on funding routes including the Design to Deliver programme, EIS and SEIS schemes, and free AI tools that allow start-ups to build and test prototypes with almost no upfront cost. Giulia and Ben both make the case for embedding designers early in a start-up team, not as an afterthought, but as a strategic partner who helps define the product, the audience and the path to market. A practical, energising conversation for anyone building something new - proving that when you put users at the centre from day one, you don’t just build better products, you build better businesses. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

  5. May 25

    Who are we designing for? Rethinking passenger experience for diverse requirements

    Travel can be empowering, freeing and confidence-building - but it can also be stressful, exhausting and exclusionary. When physical, digital or systemic barriers are present, the passenger experience become something very different. And what about the journeys people never make at all, because the system wasn’t designed with them in mind? In this episode we explore what an inclusive journey really looks like - beyond step-free access and signage. We talk about anxiety, confidence invisible barriers, lived experience, and the gap between passengers and not-yet passengers. From ethnographic research at a major UK rail station to community-led design for calm spaces, this is a practical, honest look at how transport systems can evolve from simply moving people to genuinely supporting them. Our first guests are Alayne McDonald, Community Rail Development Manager, and Bee Clark, Access and Inclusion Lead, both at Oxfordshire Community Rail Partnership (OxCRP). OxCRP is a grassroots organisation working to strengthen communities’ relationship with rail and public transport across 22 stations in the county, with a particular focus on empowering underrepresented groups through travel confidence programmes and inclusive research. Mima worked with OxCRP to develop a community-led technical requirements document for the design of station-based calm spaces - designated areas within train stations designed to provide a restorative environment for individuals experiencing sensory overload. We’re also joined by Anne Spaa, Senior Innovation Consultant at Connected Places Catapult. Anne leads engagement and impact work for the Station Innovation Zone, an innovation test bed at Bristol Temple Meads where SMEs trial technologies to improve the passenger experience. She has also taken on the lead position for the Scaling Innovation Programme, delivered as part of the National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT), which is shaping the future of accessible travel for disabled people across the UK. We discuss how evidence-based design and ethnographic research - including passenger intercept interviews, journey shadowing and community workshops - can uncover the barriers, pain points and feelings that shape how people experience transport interchanges. We hear how OxCRP’s Travel Proficiency Certificate is empowering disabled people to see public transport as a genuine choice, and why inclusive placemaking at stations means thinking about the role these spaces play in community health and wellbeing, not just transit. Anne shares how the Connected Places Catapult bridges the gap between innovators, industry and the public sector - turning research into tangible solutions like Aubin, a journey planner app for neurodivergent passengers that emerged from the Station Innovation Zone programme. And we explore the accessibility ROI question: how do we move from purely financial return-on-investment models to socioeconomic ones that capture the true, long-term value of inclusive design in public transport? A compelling conversation about why accessible design in transport isn’t about giving extra tools to those already disabled by the system - it’s about changing the system itself. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

  6. May 12

    What makes an exhibition truly inclusive, and why it matters

    What does it really mean for a museum or gallery to be inclusive - not just physically accessible, but genuinely welcoming to everyone who walks through the door? And what happens when inclusive design is embedded from the very start of a project, rather than added as an afterthought? From multisensory interactives and sensory friendly programming, to co-design workshops with local communities and audience testing with children as young as two, this episode explores what it takes to create exhibitions that offer genuine choice, permission and representation for all visitors. Our first guest is Fiona Slater, Head of Access and Equity at the Science Museum Group. Fiona joined the group in April 2021 in a newly developed role overseeing the group’s public commitment to being open for all. With over 15 years championing inclusive and accessible practice across museums and the third sector, Fiona brings deep expertise in making cultural spaces work for diverse audiences - from Relaxed Sessions and Community Access Schemes to the development of on-gallery Access Hubs and online access resources. Our second guest is Anat Talmor, Design Director at award-winning architectural practice De Matos Ryan. Anat has significant experience across museum, cultural and educational projects, and has been responsible for key design development and delivery on projects including WonderLab: The Bramall Gallery at the National Railway Museum in York, the Young V&A base build in Bethnal Green, and the Tullie House Museum redevelopment in Carlisle. Anat is passionate about working with communities and has led many of the practice’s ambitious co-design programmes for cultural institutions. In this episode we discuss what accessible design looks like in practice across gallery and exhibition environments - from pacing high-energy and calm spaces, to engaging all the senses beyond the purely visual. We hear how centring lived experience early in the design process leads to richer, more surprising outcomes, and why the timing of that engagement matters. Anat shares how inclusive prototyping and audience testing at WonderLab and the Young V&A - including attaching GoPro cameras to nursery children - uncovered insights that transformed the design. Fiona discusses the importance of visitor inclusion through Relaxed Sessions, Access Hubs and the Community Access Scheme, and why removing financial barriers is a crucial part of accessibility. We also explore the role of the accessibility consultant in the design team - not just as a technical sense-check against access standards, but as a source of creative provocation that pushes projects further. And we hear how both Fiona and Anat see multisensory, universal design as the future of exhibition-making - not designing for a small group, but creating experiences where everyone benefits. A practical, honest and inspiring conversation about why design equity in cultural spaces isn’t a nice-to-have - it’s where the most creative, rewarding work happens. You can read the complete episode transcript and explore additional resources here: https://mimagroup.com/the-redesign-podcast -- Mima is a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy specialising in helping clients improve customer experience across transport and destinations. Led by research, we consult on strategy, improve accessibility and help your customers find their way. https://mimagroup.com/

  7. 01/03/2024

    How do you create a seamless visitor experience?

    Whether it’s a world-class sporting arena, art gallery, music festival or museum, how do you create an experience for the end user that will keep them coming back for more? In this episode, we draw on experts from a variety of sectors to uncover what the key factors that go into creating a seamless visitor experience. Ross Calladine is Head of Business Support for VisitEngland. As part of his role, Ross is VisitEngland’s in-house accessibility specialist developing initiatives that help tourism businesses and destinations tap into the high value, growing accessible tourism market.  Ross has led the development of an innovative Accessibility Guides website, spearheaded the production of a number of guidance booklets and he also manages VisitEngland’s Accessible & Inclusive Tourism Award, which recognises leaders in the field. Ross also convenes and chairs England’s Inclusive Tourism Action Group comprising leading accessible tourism stakeholders. Ross was appointed Disability and Access Ambassador for Tourism by the UK Government in January 2022 and regularly speaks at industry events, most recently including 1st UNWTO Conference on Accessible Tourism, World Travel Market, ITB Berlin and Destinations for All World Summit. Anna is Co-founder and Director of Partnerships at Smartify, a global guide to art and culture. Partnering with the world’s cultural heritage organisations, Smartify empowers people to connect with the world’s creativity. Anna is also a Trustee of Tate, the youngest ever trustee of a UK national museum. She is also Trustee of Hope in Haringey. Anna was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2019 and Apollo Art Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list in 2021. She sits on the UK5G Creative Industries working group and Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre (PEC).

    How do you create a seamless visitor experience?

  8. 12/20/2023

    How do you create positive change in your business that lasts?

    Have you ever seen a vision for the future of your industry or noticed an alarming gap that you could create a solution for? Or have you ever found yourself wanting to create change to best suit the needs of everyone, but felt frustrated in your attempts, or didn't even know where to start or even how to get your stakeholders to buy into it? In this episode we speak to prominent innovators and change makers, on how best to create impactful and enduring change. First guest is internationally renowned human centered change and Innovations specialist, Matt Marsh. Matt's early roots lie in the behavioural sciences and was a studio director for the award-winning innovation firm, IDEO, as well as innovation envoy for the UK’s Design Council. He has over twenty-five years of experience providing the creative, empathetic and progressive leadership that helps organisations change, transform and innovate successfully. Recent clients include Barclays, Lloyds, Vodafone, Microsoft, the NHS, Virgin Atlantic and Guide Dogs. His first book, “People-Shaped, Tales and Tricks of a Human Centred Designer” details his approach to change and have assisted organisations in a range of industries. Our second guest is Dr Nicky Longley, an inspiring leader and very people passionate. Dr Nicky Longley is a consultant physician in Tropical and Travel Medicine at HTD and Associate professor in travel medicine at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Nicky has trained in London, Uganda and South Africa and played a key part in a project creating better access to the NHS for Asylum Seekers. The project came about during Covid, we'll talk more in depth about it's start, challenges and the outcomes on the episode.

    How do you create positive change in your business that lasts?
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About

What does human-centred, inclusive design really look like in practice - not as a checklist, not as an afterthought, but as thinking that has the power to transform the spaces, systems and environments we interact with every day? Re:Design is a podcast series from Mima, a human-centric, inclusive design consultancy with nearly 50 years of experience helping organisations create environments and experiences that genuinely work for people across different bodies, identities and ways of engaging with the world. Across this series, we bring together experts from museums, rail and transport, green spaces, technology start-ups, wayfinding and disability innovation to explore what inclusive design looks like when it's embedded from the very start. We hear how co-design workshops with nursery children transformed a gallery, why disabled people make 30% fewer journeys a year, what it takes to make a forest truly welcoming, how a start-up pivoted its entire platform by listening to users, and why the best wayfinding goes far beyond signs on walls. We talk about lived experience, co-creation, sensory design, accessibility, neurodiversity, the business case for inclusion, and the journeys people don't make because the system wasn't designed with them in mind. And we explore a clear thread that runs through every conversation: when people are placed at the centre of decision-making, better solutions emerge - for everyone. These are practical, honest conversations grounded in real projects, real challenges and real learning. If you believe that designing with people - not just for them - leads to richer, smarter, more rewarding outcomes, this series is for you. New episodes released fortnightly from 11/05/26.

Information

  • Creator
    Mima
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Mima