On the north campus of Microsoft’s 500-acre headquarters, anticipation is quietly mounting. The company is gearing up to launch its new Inclusive Tech Lab, which sits in Building 86 — one of 125 buildings in its Redmond, Washington grounds. This 2,000-square-foot room used to be a reception area, with a set of doors leading to the offices within and another pair facing the rest of the world. It only seems fitting, considering what Microsoft envisions this lab to be: a place to welcome members of the disability community, the tech industry and its own designers. Importantly, it’s close to key personnel in Microsoft’s product teams. Across the street is building 88, where you’ll find chief product officer Panos Panay’s office, while down the road is the Hardware Lab in building 87.

On a recent visit to the Inclusive Tech Lab, I met a few members of the team (and Panay briefly dropped in via video chat) ahead of the launch. They were eager to welcome the world into the carefully designed room. “This is an embassy for people with disabilities,” accessibility program manager Solomon Romney said, “it is the connection between the community and our product making teams.”

The new Inclusive Tech Lab is the successor to an earlier version on the West campus that the Xbox team opened in 2017, when it was developing the Adaptive Controller. But that wasn’t a dedicated space. Senior director of hardware accessibility Kris Hunter described it as a “grassroots effort.”

“Some of the team members came together, we built IKEA furniture over the weekend,” she said. “It was just this passion project.” Though that was initially imagined to be an incubator for the Xbox team to work with designers and engineers, it evolved beyond gaming. Over the years, the lab in Studio B on the west campus hosted about 7,000 people, including clothing designers, members of congress and even competitors like Nintendo and PlayStation.

Three people inside the gaming section of Microsoft's new Inclusive Tech Lab. One of them is using a wheelchair, and all three are using Xbox controllers.

When Hunter was transferred from Xbox to the devices team, she was asked to replicate that experience — this time with a designated space. “Panos came through one day and said, ‘There’s a space over at 86, I think it would be perfect for you guys to show and expand your thinking here,’” she said.

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The space at 86 is an open-plan square that’s reminiscent of a child’s playroom. It’s bright and airy, with colorful toys and a giant fiber-optic jellyfish hanging from the ceiling in one corner. The lab is sectioned off into six general areas, including the welcome desk, a sensory stimulation corner, a demo classroom, a faux conference room and a “work and play” area. These are meant to simulate environments in which people use technology, to help product designers and members of the disability community have a basis for discussion and sharing experiences.

For that to be a conducive and welcoming environment for their guests, the Inclusive Tech Lab team had to take many different needs into consideration when designing the space, quite literally, from the ground up.

To start with, the floor of the room is divided into sections with visually distinct patterns and different tactile surfaces like wood and carpet, which makes them easier to tell apart by people using canes. Microsoft’s team was also careful to make sure the borders between them were flat to avoid potential trip hazards. “It took about 12 different attempts to come in and re-level the floor perfectly,” Romney said.

A shot of the floors at Microsoft's new Inclusive Tech Lab, with a light wood section, gray carpet section and dark carpet section in the frame. The areas are separated by a light gray stone tile.

The lab’s ceilings have felt baffles, and the room uses felt walls that “help suck sound so that we have much clearer audio in here,” Romney explained. “For people who have limited hearing, it’s much easier to hear what’s being said.” It also provides a more comfortable environment for individuals with neurodiversity who might feel overstimulated in a large echoey space.