Original subtitles

So we've started discussing designing for accessibility.

But as I've said, there's another important factor to being inclusive:

equity-focused design.

In this video, we'll discuss equity-focused design

specifically as it affects race and gender.

But keep in mind that this conversation extends beyond just

race and gender to things like ability, age, and socioeconomic status.

Let's explore how this applies to the field of UX.

Equity-focused design means thinking through all the aspects of

a designed product and making sure the product is both accessible and

fair to all genders, races, and abilities.

Plus, the designs need to specifically consider underrepresented and

excluded groups.

Job applications and census forms are one area where gender and race needs specific

attention, because they usually involve collecting sensitive data from users.

You might have already heard about the importance of having gender neutral

pronouns on these kinds of forms, but that's actually just a starting point.

When designing these forms, you should also

consider whether a certain question even needs to be included in the first place.

Ask yourself why you're collecting this information and whether or

not you really need it.

For example,

a job application probably doesn't need to include a question about gender identity.

If a question does need to be on the form, like in a census that's collecting

population data, carefully consider the wording and make sure it doesn't

have a bias toward what's considered the culturally accepted norm.

For example, imagine you have a form that asks respondents to select their gender.

One form gives three choices, male, female, and other.

The second form offers a wide range of choices: male, female,

gender-nonconforming, nonbinary, and a blank field to allow for a written answer.

The second form is much more likely to make everyone feel included, and

it will also probably do a better job at gathering accurate data.

Gender nonconforming means having a gender identity that

doesn't conform to a society's gender norms.

And nonbinary means having a gender identity that's neither

entirely male or entirely female.

Another example of how equity affects gender is with public restrooms.

If a business offers a men's room and a women's room,

each with the same number of stalls, that would be an example of equality.

However, that's not an equitable design.

For one, people identifying as female often need more time,

which means the bathrooms are more crowded.

Plus, people who identify as gender-nonconforming or

nonbinary are not included at all.

Restrooms that are gender neutral, however,

are an example of a physical space that's designed to treat everyone equitably.

Everyone, no matter their gender identity, has the same opportunity

to use each bathroom.

Let's review a few ways this has played out in the tech industry.

When voice assistants were first introduced at Google,

they were trained primarily with male, native English-speaking voices.

As a result, the voice assistants could easily understand and

respond to male voices.

But they had a hard time understanding female voices, because of the higher pitch,

and voices of people with strong accents.

When the product launched,

users were extremely frustrated when the assistant could not understand them.

This example highlights how testing with a diverse set of users can

truly improve a product.

Another important aspect of designing for equity is using inclusive images.

Imagine you're designing an app and

you need to create an illustration to use as a mock profile photo when

a user hasn't added their own profile photo to their account yet.

What does that illustration look like?

As a designer, would you automatically create a picture that looks like you?

Or would you be more inclusive in your representation?

Representing diverse people through icons, illustrations, and

photographs requires viewing everything we design through a critical lens.

Avatars like those used in account profiles should also consider age,

race, and gender, among other things.

Sometimes designers consciously include an avatar that

specifically challenges the mainstream image of a user for

the product to be more inclusive and equitable.

Inclusive and equity-focused design are principles with endless implications and

this video is just a starting point for you to build from.

As we continue through the program and start discussing user research,

we'll explore biases and other factors that impact equity-focused design.

Coming up, we'll consider another group of users to design for:

the next billion users.