This blog post is a reflection on the way we, designers, have been creating human-centered products, services, and experiences that actually connect to men, and not to humans. Human-centered design has too often treated ‘man’ as the placeholder for humans, and this is a mistake since women correspond to 49,5% of the world population.
As human beings, our experiences and perspective of the meaning of it all change according to how we look, where we come from, how we are seen, and the way we behave in front of the world. In my opinion, if we call a design a human-centered design, we must consider both gender's priorities and needs, especially now in 2021, when women and conquering and being a huge player in the economy.
So why do we still design for men? According to Forbes “ The number of agencies with female creative directors (about 3%) also constitutes an abysmal minority. Considering that Americans are exposed to potentially thousands of advertisements every day and women drive 70 to 80% of consumer purchases, male-dominant creative agencies are missing a huge opportunity.” So, the reason why we have so many man-focused designs is because of the ones that are creating them, and naturally, men identify with the product.
A great case study is the cosmetic brand Aesop, which has gender-less packaging focusing on what the product will do for you. In any of their communication they mention or indicate that the product is designed for certain sex and, for me, this is the true essence of Human-centered Design.
Designers all over the world must acknowledge the responsibility that is in our hands and make Human-Centered Design more inclusive by researching, testing, and watching the changes of how gender affects consumer’s behavior and choices.