Woman-Centered Design through Humanity, Activism, and Inclusion

Women account for over half of the global population, however, continue to be subject to systematic and systemic disadvantage, particularly in terms of access to health and education. At every intersection, where systemic inequality accounts for greater loss of life or limitations on full and healthy living, women are more greatly impacted by those inequalities. The design of technologies is no different, the very definition of technology is historically cast in terms of male activities, and advancements in the field are critical to improve women's quality of life. This article views HCI, a relatively new field, as well positioned to act critically in the ways that technology serve, refigure, and redefine women's bodies. Indeed, the female body remains a contested topic, a restriction to the development of women's health. On one hand, the field of women's health has attended to the medicalization of the body and therefore is to be understood through medical language and knowledge. On the other hand, the framing of issues associated with women's health and people's experiences of and within such system(s) remain problematic for many. This is visible today in, e.g., socio-cultural practices in disparate geographies or medical devices within a clinic or the home. Moreover, the biological body is part of a great unmentionable, i.e., the perils of essentialism. We contend that it is necessary, pragmatically and ethically, for HCI to turn its attention toward a woman-centered design approach. While previous research has argued for the dangers of gender-demarcated design work, we advance that designing for and with women should not be regarded as ghettoizing, but instead as critical to improving women's experiences in bodily transactions, choices, rights, and access to and in health and care. In this article, we consider how and why designing with and for woman matters. We use our design-led research as a way to speak to and illustrate alternatives to designing for and with women within HCI.QC 20200930</p

Invisible women: exposing data bias in a world designed for men

Welcome to the Gender Data Gap. Our world is largely built for and by men, in a system that can ignore half the population. This book will tell you how and why this matters In her new book, Invisible Women, award-winning campaigner and writer Caroline Criado Perez shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. She exposes the gender data gap - a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible bias with a profound effect on women's lives. Caroline brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are excluded from the very building blocks of the world we live in, and the impact this has on their health and wellbeing. From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, urban planning and the media - Invisible Women exposes the biased data that excludes women. In making the case for change, this powerful and provocative book will make you see the world anew.Includes bibliographical references and index.Preface -- Introduction: the default male -- Part I: Daily life -- Chapter 1: Can snow-clearing be sexist? -- Chapter 2: Gender neutral with urinals -- Part II: The workplace -- Chapter 3: The long friday -- Chapter 4: The myth of meritocracy -- Chapter 5: The Henry Higgins effect -- Chapter 6: Being worth less than a shoe -- Part III: Design -- Chapter 7: The plough hypothesis -- Chapter 8: One-size-fits-men -- Chapter 9: A sea of dudes -- Part IV: Going to the doctor -- Chapter 10: The drugs don't work -- Chapter 11: Yentl syndrome -- Part V: Public life -- Chapter 12: A costless resource to exploit -- Chapter 13: from purse to wallet -- Chapter 14: Women's rights are human rights -- Part VI: When it goes wrong -- Chapter 15: Who will rebuild? -- Chapter 16: It's not the disaster that kills you -- Afterword -- Acknowledgements -- Endnotes -- Index.Welcome to the Gender Data Gap. Our world is largely built for and by men, in a system that can ignore half the population. This book will tell you how and why this matters In her new book, Invisible Women, award-winning campaigner and writer Caroline Criado Perez shows us how, in a world largely built for and by men, we are systematically ignoring half the population. She exposes the gender data gap - a gap in our knowledge that is at the root of perpetual, systemic discrimination against women, and that has created a pervasive but invisible bias with a profound effect on women's lives. Caroline brings together for the first time an impressive range of case studies, stories and new research from across the world that illustrate the hidden ways in which women are excluded from the very building blocks of the world we live in, and the impact this has on their health and wellbeing. From government policy and medical research, to technology, workplaces, urban planning and the media - Invisible Women exposes the biased data that excludes women. In making the case for change, this powerful and provocative book will make you see the world anew