GENDER
THINKING
Why
gender
matters
Representation
Women and other gender groups are the minority on development teams. Tech development teams are typically composed of white (and straight) geek men. Due to this underepresentation, design decisions are likely to be affected by the unilateral perspective of men. Women, for example, have little influence in teams discussions. Women in tech industry report that they are not comfortable talking about gender issues.
Stereotypes
People tend to unconsciously consider the end user to be a man. Therefore, if gender-sensitive strategies are not used during the process of understanding users, the project requirements will likely meet the needs of men, as they are often considered regular users of technology. Moreover, when women and other gender groups are explicitly included as a target user of a product or service, they are often stereotyped.
Personal bias
Designers and developers tend to consider their own needs, preferences and past experiences when making decisions in a project rather than focusing on the user's needs. Even when a user-centred approach is used in the project, personal bias will emerge. As teams are mostly composed of men, their perspective are likely to influence the project
requirements and design outcome.
Including
GENDER in the
Design Process
Some facts:
of management positions are filled by men
80%
of development
teams are composed of men
74%
is the proportion of women needed in a group in order to influence a discussion
80%
A gender issue
is a design issue
SOME HOPE:
The Gender Thinking PROJECT
Gender thinking is about designing with gender in mind. The ideia is to include not only women's needs but the needs of non-binary and transgender people as well. Design teams selected to participate in the project will receive mentoring sessions so they can find their own way to include gender in the design process, based on research that includes methods and tools developed for the project. The purpose of the project is to provide designers with practical tools for gender inclusion and to encourage the development of new tools. So far, experimenting with user descriptions, for example, led to positive results (see below). This project aims to expand explorations by including a broader spectrum of gender identities.
GENDERLESS DESCRIPTIONS:
THE HYBRID PERSONA:
Every team has its own process
Design teams may have already developed their own design process and incorporated tools that are appropriate for the corporation. The development of a gender-inclusive process should take into account the work culture and be transformative at the same time. Each design team will develop its own way of thinking about gender and addressing issues that will arise during mentoring sessions.
That's the beauty of diversity.
The Gender Thinking research focuses primarily on the second stage of the design process, when the design requirements are defined. Biases are likely to occur at this stage of decision making. This is exactly when gender stereotypes and personal beliefs come into play. However, mentoring sessions cover the entire design process, from user research to validation with users at the end of the process.
Virtual
MENTORSHIP
Gender-Sensitive Strategies
The first step in addressing gender in the design process is to understand existing strategies to minimise biases, reflect on gender, encourage empathy, avoid stereotypes and promote inclusivity. The reflection begins with the designers' own biases, before any user research strategy is proposed.
Gender Thinking Process
The gender thinking process is developed by each team in a unique way. It should consider the methods and approaches that suit the organization, taking into account the work culture, the stakeholders (which include the users) and the product/service. This process defines the inclusion of gender in all stages of design.
Gender-Inclusive Tools
During the mentoring sessions, selected design teams will have the opportunity to experiment with gender-inclusive tools and develop new tools to promote inclusivity and sensitivity and to tackle gender bias during the design process.
GENDER SPECTRUM
woman/feminine
Identity
Expression
Romantic attraction
Sexual attraction
Conceptual basis
FEMINISM
“The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they aren't true, but they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
INTERSECTIONALITY
“We can't talk about gender without discussing race and class.”
Djamila Ribeiro
Biological sex
man/masculine
[based on the @genderbread person]
About us
Barbara is a Product Marketing professional with over 9 years of international experience in customer experience, innovation, and behavioral analysis. She has a strong background in using neuroscience insights to create more assertive relationships and humanized experiences between products and brands and their customers. She has a bachelor's in Psychology and trainnings in Behavioral Design, Emotional Design, Disruptive Innovation, Technology Entrepreneurship and User Behaviour, User Experience (UX), and Behaviour Analysis.
Milena is a UX researcher and designer with with over 15 years of international experience as a researcher and designer. As a design advocate and a relationship builder, she is committed to delivering innovation through participatory processes that bring together user expectations, stakeholders’ perspectives and designers' ideas. She has a bachelor's in Industrial Design, master's in Strategic Design, a PhD in Computer Science and trainings in Interaction Design, Mobile App Development, Workshop Facilitation, Design Thinking, and Statistical Data Analysis.
STAY IN
TOUCH
To apply for a mentorship for your design team or to request more information, please fill in your contact details.
THINKING