If Access is a Door, Intentional Design is the Key

In tech, we love words like access and inclusion. They look good on pitch decks and sound powerful in boardrooms. But disruption—and especially digital transformation—requires us to take those words seriously, not just recycle them as slogans.

Here’s the thing: access isn’t an invitation. It’s infrastructure.

An open door doesn’t mean much if it’s bolted shut from the inside—or if it’s ten feet off the ground and no one left a ladder. If we’re not asking who built the door, who can reach the handle, and who gets left standing outside, then we’re not really designing for inclusion. We’re just dressing up the same old system with new language.

When I build, I try to move past the optics and ask harder questions:

• Who is this really serving?

• Who’s still being left behind?

• Are we shifting power—or just smiling in the photo?

Inclusion is an intentional design decision.

Every product we ship, every system we create, has the power to either widen the doorway—or reinforce the walls.