{"id":3020,"date":"2021-12-16T13:23:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T13:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kiwitech.com\/blog\/?p=3020"},"modified":"2022-12-26T09:56:54","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T09:56:54","slug":"how-to-design-user-experience-for-diversity-inclusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kiwitech.com\/blog\/how-to-design-user-experience-for-diversity-inclusion\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Design User Experience for Diversity & Inclusion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It\u2019s an enormous challenge for organizations to redesign their structures, policies and practices to become more inclusive. But, doing difficult things is the only way we can improve everything that\u2019s not right in the world today- be it discrimination or biases or anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For companies to build products and services that matter to their ideal clients across all colors, races, religions, and ethnicities, they must first get diversity and inclusion right on the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusive design aims to help companies set the foundation for inclusive products and services. There is a strong ethical responsibility for every one of us to create work that reflects the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides helping fulfill an ethical responsibility, building for diversity and inclusion is healthy and profitable for businesses. Before we look into that, let\u2019s first lay down a few steps for you to design for D&I.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to achieve diversity and inclusion in UX<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The design of your UX design team<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talk about introverts or visually challenged folks or women- organizations have a way of justifying why they don\u2019t have enough representation, especially in leadership positions. They say it was hard to find candidates. This is where the issue stems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your UX design team can\u2019t design for a diverse market without in itself being diverse and inclusive. It would have been convenient if that were possible, but that\u2019s the whole problem, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusive design warrants you to include members of marginalized communities in the designing process. Having a diverse set of minds and talent working on a problem will open the discussion to whole new perspectives and experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A diverse design team will take all those experiences to design UX that speaks to your target market across all boundaries. Include people from that community and allies to sidestep a narrow and subjective perception of reality within the designing teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allies are essential when hiring or adding people to a diverse team because what good is onboarding a diverse set of people in a hostile environment without support?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question assumptions early on in the design process<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about inclusion at every stage of the designing process. For instance, even the problem-defining phase has ample opportunity for a diverse set of opinions and experiences. When companies define the problem that their target users have, they are nailing down their focus points for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take time to step outside the usual rhythm of this process and question assumptions and hypotheses early on. Ask yourself and your team why you follow a specific approach to define the problem statement and build awareness around the assumptions you\u2019re making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is when you can zoom out and soak in the big picture with a diverse set of perspectives before zooming in on a particular problem statement that captures the essence of your product\u2019s experience and what it means for your customers across the board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question assumptions to make sure you\u2019re solving the right problem.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Follow inclusive design principles<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Product and experience designing principles can guide your design team at all stages of decision-making. Inclusive design principles can impact the quality of design and ensure that the end goal of an inclusive experience is achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few inclusive design principles<\/a> to take inspiration \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n