9. Making technology gender exclusive

Question 1

Why are some people left out by technology? (5)

Answer 1

Accessibility barriers

Economic inequality

Cultural and language exclusion

Difficult to reach populations

Design biases

Question 2

What creates gender design bias? (3)

Answer 2

Devs and designers create for people who share their own experiences, meaning that they overlook needs of people not in these groups.

Most tech teams and mostly male so this results in creating tech that works for men.

Assumptions about genders are perpetuated.

Question 3

What is gender identity?

Answer 3

Gender identity is not binary, it’s a spectrum.

Gender identity can’t be assumed based on anatomy, appearance or social norms.

Question 4

What is Gender Mag (GM)?

Answer 4

GM is a type of inclusive design used to make technology more usable to people of all genders

Question 5

Why learn about Gender Mag? (6)

Answer 5

Designtechnology tosupport gender-based cognitive differences

Learn aboutyourowncognition

Learn about anethical/responsible design practice

Help everyone learn abouttheir own ways of problem-solving

Help everyone to feel more included

Show that you value diversity and inclusion

Question 6

What are the key concepts and methods of Gender Mag? (3)

Answer 6

GM Facets
GM Personas
GM Methods (Walkthrough and Heuristic evaluation)

Question 7

What are the 5 GM facets?

Answer 7

The ways people interact with technology vary, reflecting gender differences in cognitive styles and problem-solving strategies:

1. Motivation - females tend to be motivated to use technology for what it enables them to accomplish, whereas males’ motivations sometimes come from their enjoyment of the
   technology
2. Information processing: females are more statistically likely to use comprehensive information processing styles whereas males are more statistically likely to use selective styles
3. Self efficacy: a form of confidence predictive of willingness to persevere. Empirical data shows females tend to have lower computer self-efficacy.
4. Risk aversion: Studies show females tend statistically to be more risk-averse.
5. Learning style: Research shows that females are less likely to playfully experiment (‘tinker’) with features new to them.

Question 8

Who are the 3 GM personas?

Answer 8

Abi, Pat and Tim

Each persona can have any gender and pronoun.

They are eachmulti-personas: They each have multiple photos of different people who appear to be of different ages, races, genders, etc.

Question 9

What is the purpose of the 3 GM personas?

Answer 9

Creating technology that works well for Abi, Pat, and Tim will result in technology that’s better forallusers

Question 10

What are the 2 GM methods?

Answer 10

Walkthrough or “The GM Method” - A step-by-step process involving “walking through” a technology design as one of the personas to detect what issues they might encounter.

Heuristic evaluation: A faster, “cheaper” evaluation method. Involves checking whether a technology design meets design guidelines created to support the personas.

Question 11

What are the steps of a GM Walkthrough? (5)

Answer 11

Step 1. Choose the technology and use case to evaluate

Step 2. Form your GM evaluation team

Step 3. Choose a persona and customise it

Step 4. Evaluate

Step 5. Prioritise issues