Summary
The inclusion of women in research has existed in narrow and siloed ways, if at all. Usually we include women when the project has an active gender focus (often in international development projects), or in an effort towards more inclusive research. But, we are not practising inclusion of women unless it is deeply embedded in both, the way we do research and what we do research about. In this session, Mansi will share Women-Centric Design: a methodology and toolkit to equip designers and decision makers to actively design with and for women. Drawing from her research with gender and feminist practitioners around the world, Mansi will introduce researchers to themes that are core to serving women as equal users of our design — and the role research can play in broadening our project scopes so we can shift away from overlooking women towards truly including them.
Key Insights
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Women often face common barriers across various sectors, yet these are not adequately addressed in project design.
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Projects centered on women's needs frequently forget to include women's voices and perspectives.
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Safety is a fundamental concern for women that is often overlooked in design.
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Non-linearity reflects the unique challenges women face, which are invisible to conventional design processes.
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Trust is eroded when systems do not meet women's needs, reinforcing stereotypes and creating confidence gaps.
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Men have a crucial role in advancing women's-centric design and should not be excluded from the conversation.
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Design and research need to be proactive in addressing women's experiences rather than reactive to issues that arise.
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Understanding the complexities of women's lives will lead to better service delivery and address hidden burdens.
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Inclusivity in design must include diverse lived experiences and recognize intersectionality.
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Evaluating projects through the lens of women-centricity can reveal areas for improvement and enhance impact.
Notable Quotes
"The question I was really trying to answer was how can we not forget about women?"
"We frame women as a minority, setting them up to be forgettable, dispensable, and ignorable."
"Voice recognition technologies have been reported to mock terms that are important to women."
"Women are more likely to shoulder burdens that are often invisibilized in our research and design processes."
"We need to include men as part of the solution in advocating for women's needs."
"Safety is often taken for granted, leading to disengagement and diminished access to resources."
"When we ignore non-linearity, we exacerbate women's burdens and penalties in society."
"It's essential to carve out an active role for men in discussions about gender equality and design."
"We cannot really talk about designing for women without including men."
"The Women's Centric eye helps us see that solutions can be on a spectrum from offensive to holistic."
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