When the Xbox team at Microsoft first unveiled the Xbox Adaptive Controller back in May[1], the design drew applause from the gaming community. The fact that a prominent gaming hardware manufacturer was directly addressing the needs of disabled gamers with innovative product design was a moment worth noting. The controller, called the XAC, is remarkable for its simplistic design: On top, there’s a D-pad, a few menu buttons, and two giant round hand pads. Its back strip, though, has a multitude of ports that will let physically disabled gamers plug in any kind of assistive devices they need. The XAC is expected to ship later this year and will cost $100.
But when it came to inclusive design, Microsoft didn’t stop with the controller itself. The company’s designers took a hard look at the packaging for the XAC, both the cardboard that would contain the controller itself and the larger box it would would ship in. Gamers with mobility challenges don’t just need a controller that suits their needs, Microsoft’s thinking goes. They should also have an unboxing experience that makes them feel empowered. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in five Americans[2] is disabled, with more than 13 percent of the population reporting mobility challenges or a physical disability; apply those numbers to the gaming population as a whole, and that means around 30 million gamers have some sort of physical disability.
In a video briefing with press last week, Microsoft’s design team shared more details on the research it’s done over the past year as it has designed the XAC package. The company said it plans to use the insights gained from the XAC packaging for future box designs, as well. “We...