James Fischer remembers when his understanding of accessible design clicked.
He was pushing a wheelchair through a kitchen at
Disability Advocates of Kent County’s Accessibility Center, attempting to perform simple tasks—open a cabinet, reach a countertop, navigate a tight turn. Every movement felt awkward and every reach felt strained.
As a collaborative design student at Ferris State University’s
Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD), Fischer had spent years thinking about how spaces look. But in that moment, he realized that design isn't just about appearances—it’s about how people live in a space.
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James Fischer and fellow KCAD students collaborating on the kitchen display at DAKC.
“That experience changed the way I think about design,” Fischer says. “I’m a pretty empathetic person, but I hadn’t understood, on a personal level, how hard it is to move through a world that isn’t built for you.”
That insight became the foundation of a student-led collaboration between KCAD and Disability Advocates of Kent County (DAKC). Alongside classmates Bailee Keener, Maddie Kuchenmeister, Gabriel Menzie, and Britney Yonkers, Fischer helped design an interactive display for the 2025 Building Michigan Communities Conference. This hands-on experience invites attendees to feel the difference between minimally compliant and user-informed kitchen design.
The goal is to challenge industry assumptions, build empathy, and promote inclusive design as a foundational part of homebuilding.
Involve users in design
At the heart of the project was a simple but practical idea: don’t just design for people – design with them.
The student team partnered with DAKC and Home Repair Services, meeting with individuals who live with disabilities, contractors who work on adaptive remodels, and accessibility experts who understand the technical and everyday challenges of such spaces. Their final product allowed visitors to physically experience a kitchen that accommodates wheelchair users compared to one that only meets basic ADA standards.
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James Fischer and fellow KCAD students presenting their collaboration with DAKC.
“A big part of inclusive design is building empathy,” Fischer says. “We had people with mobility aids and dexterity issues navigate the space and tell us what worked and what didn’t. That feedback shaped everything.”
The result sparked conversations. Visitors to the exhibit reacted with curiosity, emotion, and insights. Using QR-coded surveys built by the student team, many shared personal stories and design suggestions.
“We realized that ADA standards alone aren’t enough,” Fischer says. “We need to go above and beyond to make spaces more usable for everyone.”
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KCAD Professor Mary Ellen Fritz helped design a curriculum that introduces students to inclusive design thinking early in their college experience.
For Disability Advocates Executive Director David Bulkowski, the collaboration demonstrated what happens when student learning connects with community insight.
“I personally learned a lot through the process of working with the students,” Bulkowski says. “They were learning how to design through conversations with users and audiences, and I was able to better understand how they brought those insights to their design choices.”
Involve users in design
At the heart of the project was a simple but practical idea: don’t just design for people – design with them.
The student team partnered with DAKC and Home Repair Services, meeting with individuals who live with disabilities, contractors who work on adaptive remodels, and accessibility experts who understand the technical and everyday challenges of such spaces. Their final product allowed visitors to physically experience a kitchen that accommodates wheelchair users compared to one that only meets basic ADA standards.
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Benson, a DAKC client, volunteered as a test participant for the KCAD students’ project. As the interview questions appeared on the screen behind him, he was amazed that someone cared enough to ask for his input.
“A big part of inclusive design is building empathy,” Fischer says. “We had people with mobility aids and dexterity issues navigate the space and tell us what worked and what didn’t. That feedback shaped everything.”
The result sparked conversations. Visitors to the exhibit reacted with curiosity, emotion, and insights. Using QR-coded surveys built by the student team, many shared personal stories and design suggestions.
“We realized that ADA standards alone aren’t enough,” Fischer says. “We need to go above and beyond to make spaces more usable for everyone.”
For Disability Advocates Executive Director David Bulkowski, the collaboration demonstrated what happens when student learning connects with community insight.
“I personally learned a lot through the process of working with the students,” Bulkowski says. “They were learning how to design through conversations with users and audiences, and I was able to better understand how they brought those insights to their design choices.”
Start process by listening
The Building Michigan Communities Conference display was the second phase of a semester-long project led by KCAD adjunct professor Zoe Carmichael, who teaches in the collaborative design department. The first phase involved designing a learning space on campus to introduce universal design concepts. The second expanded that work to a larger audience.
Carmichael says her students approached the project by listening first and designing second.
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Zoe Carmichael and her students pictured with Dave Bulkowski.
“They had to interview stakeholders, visit homes and offices, and then help build components of the final display,” she says. “We found that lived experiences provided the most useful insights.”
At the final presentation, some guests were visibly moved.
“We had people in tears,” Carmichael recalls. “One man looked at the PowerPoint and said, ‘That’s my name up there.’ It made a strong impression on everyone in the room.”
She says the class made a lasting impact on both students and instructors. “This small group of kind, talented, and insightful students will carry this approach into future projects.”
The collaboration is part of an ongoing effort at KCAD to include inclusive design throughout its programs – not just as a specialty, but as part of everyday practice.
Associate Professor Mary Ellen Fritz, chair of the Interior Design program, has helped develop a curriculum that introduces inclusive thinking early. For the past six years, she’s co-led a project that begins with a conventional residential design brief before introducing a scenario that changes everything.
“We tell students, ‘It’s a year later. Your client has experienced a life-altering accident and now uses a wheelchair. They’ve asked you to redesign the space so they can live independently,’” Fritz explains.
That’s when students begin to rethink their assumptions.
“Layouts they thought were fine suddenly don’t work,” she says. “Upper cabinets are out of reach. Bathrooms are too tight. It changes their approach.”
Deeper understanding of design
Bailee Keener says that because of her studies at KCAD and the collaboration with Disability Advocates of Kent County, her understanding of what good design means has evolved.
Keener, a collaborative design major with a minor in interior design, says working on inclusive design projects has reshaped her career goals and deepened her sense of purpose.
“I hope to pursue a career centered around how spaces influence people and their needs,” Keener says. “These projects have opened up new opportunities for conversations surrounding inclusive design. Knowing that one shoe does not fit all has opened my eyes to new possibilities.”
Keener says creating the kitchen display for the Building Michigan Communities Conference was more than a classroom assignment: It was a real-world experience rooted in community, empathy, and systems thinking. For Keener, the takeaway was clear: inclusive design isn’t just a niche – it’s a necessity.
“One of the main lessons was that you have to ask who else needs to be at the table,” Keener says. “Everyone’s voices deserve to be heard, and as a designer, it’s your responsibility to create space for that input.”
Keener says the experience helped her build connections with community members and learn from local experts who are leading efforts to reimagine accessible spaces across West Michigan.
She’s now considering career paths in workplace or retail design, with a commitment to making environments that are welcoming for all.
“These projects showed me what’s possible when design is rooted in listening,” Keener says. “That’s the kind of designer I want to be.”
Experiencing their designs
To help students understand this firsthand, KCAD partners with DAKC to give students direct exposure to accessible design in practice. They also try navigating the campus in wheelchairs to get a sense of how space affects mobility.
“Disability isn’t just something that affects a few people,” Fritz says. “It’s something most of us will experience – whether through injury, age, or someone close to us.”
The interior design program introduces students to ADA regulations and universal design principles but encourages them to think beyond compliance.
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The DAKC booth on display at the Building Michigan Communities Conference.
“Instead of saying, ‘How can we adapt this later?’ we ask, ‘How can we design this well from the start?’” she says.
The change in thinking often carries over to other projects as students move through the program.
“You can see it sophomore, junior, senior year – they are thinking about designing spaces for all people differently,” Fritz says.
In 2024, Ferris State University President Bill Pink and then-KCAD President Tara McCrackin signed a five-year agreement with Disability Advocates to support the development of inclusive design across the college’s curriculum. The plan includes expanding conversations in other departments, including digital art and design and graphic design, where accessibility is explored through screen reader compatibility, color contrast, and website usability.
The goal is to create a shared regional resource for inclusive design – linking students, nonprofits, and professionals with case studies, research, and working examples of accessible spaces.
“Disability Advocates is excited to help further our vision that every person, regardless of their abilities, has equal rights and opportunities,” Bulkowski says. “We want our communities to be accessible and welcoming to all.”
Carrying the lessons forward
Fischer, now a senior, says the project left a lasting impression.
“By the end of the semester, it really stuck with me that good design is accessible design,” he says. “If you design for people with the most specific needs, everyone benefits.”
He also helped coordinate a campus-wide workshop that brought faculty and DAKC leaders together to brainstorm ways to apply inclusive design principles across departments.
“That was really successful,” Fischer says. “We wanted this to become part of the culture, not just a class project.”
This summer, Fischer is working with KCAD’s Wege Prize High School Collaborative Studio, where local teens explore sustainable design through real-world problem-solving. He and his peers guide students through systems thinking and stakeholder engagement.
Looking ahead, Fischer is interested in nonprofit or civic design work, particularly in areas like accessible transportation and urban planning.
“I’m open to different paths,” he says. “But I want to stay at the intersection of design and equity.”
His approach is rooted in a concept he and his classmates now consider central: design to the edges.
“We often talk about designing to the edges instead of designing for the average,” Fischer says. “That’s the heart of inclusive design.”
KCAD’s collaboration with Disability Advocates of Kent County offers a model for how design education can better respond to the world’s needs. By working with community members and focusing on the experiences of people often left out of traditional design conversations, students are learning to think critically and empathetically.
“Accessibility is essential,” Fritz says. “A space can’t just look good. It has to work for everyone.”
Photos courtesy of James Fischer, Mary Ellen Fritz, Zoe Carmichael and Peggy Helsel.
From furniture to shoes, from arts to education to even policy creation, design is everywhere you look. Designed in Michigan, a story series coming out of West Michigan, is devoted to sharing the expansive role design plays in Michigan's past, present and future. It is made possible through the support of Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.