Experiential Marketing Solution Dubai: Designing Inclusive Experiences for People of Determination
Dubai uses the term People of Determination for people with disabilities and the city has put real building rules behind the wording. The Dubai Universal Design Code is now applied across places like RTA service centres and public transport stations so a lot of residents expect things to just work for everyone. If you’re commissioning an Experiential Marketing Solution Dubai and nobody’s mentioned accessibility yet that’s worth fixing before the concept gets signed off.
At Rayqube we treat it as basic design work. An installation that half the audience can’t reach or can’t stand next to has failed no matter how good the render looked.
What the Universal Design Code Means Once You Leave the Building
The code was written for permanent buildings so you won’t find a clause that tells you how tall your touch screen should be. What you can borrow is the thinking. Routes wide enough to turn a wheelchair and somewhere to sit and a toilet that isn’t a ten minute walk away. Dubai Municipality reported that 90 percent of public beaches and 80 percent of public parks have been adapted so visitors arrive expecting that standard.
And Abu Dhabi’s tourism department published an Accessible Events Manual that covers indoor and outdoor venues and signage and seating and restrooms. I keep a copy on my laptop. It’s written for the capital but works fine as a checklist for a pop up in Dubai Mall.
Sensory Design Is the Part Most Brands Forget
Wheelchair access gets all the attention because you can see it. Sensory access is easier to miss. Expo City Dubai has quiet rooms with a sensory pod where visitors can turn the stimulation up or down and two of its pavilions Alif and Terra were rated by Sensory Access with the results published on cards so a family can check before they go. Tickets are free for People of Determination and the wheelchair buggies cost nothing either.
Most activations can borrow a small version of that. Pick a time each day when the music drops and the strobing stops and put a sign up saying so. Keep a corner with a chair and no screens. Expo City also hands out sunflower lanyards so staff know a visitor might need a bit more patience and I’ve watched that one tiny thing change how a team behaves on the floor.
A solid experiential marketing solution Dubai clients can trust has the quiet corner and the volume plan drawn on the first sketch. Adding them after launch means moving a wall.
Small Design Choices Nobody Notices Until They’re Wrong
My brother’s old Corolla has a passenger window that only goes down if you thump the door in exactly the right place. He’s never fixed it. Passengers just learn. I don’t know why I’m telling you this but it’s been on my mind.
Height is the big one. If a kiosk needs you to stand and reach it shuts out anyone seated and anyone short and a good number of kids. RTA redesigned the queue systems at its service centres with heights and layouts tailored to People of Determination and I’d copy that thinking for any screen you put in front of the public. Big touch targets help everybody including people holding a coffee in one hand.
We got caught out on colour once. A game we built scored players with red and green lights and a visitor who’s colour blind had no idea whether he’d won. He was nice about it. We rebuilt the display with shapes and sound the following week and honestly the new version looked better.
Putting Accessibility Into the Brief in the UAE and Saudi Arabia
Every brief for an experiential marketing solution Dubai clients ask us for now carries an accessibility checklist and the same checklist goes with us when we deliver in Saudi Arabia. It covers route width and seating and screen height and a sensory plan and a short staff briefing. None of it is hard. It’s just easy to forget when the creative idea is exciting.
I’d put staff training above hardware if I had to choose. A person on the floor who knows how to offer help without assuming anything is worth MORE than a ramp nobody can find. The briefing takes about an hour.
Final Words
Inclusive design makes the experience better for pretty much everyone who walks through it so it’s hard to argue against. If the activation sits inside a bigger exhibition our Exhibition Stand Builders UAE team can carry the same heights and routes from the stand to the stage.
