design for everyone: 7x10^9 reasons we need to stop designing for ourselves

7x109 REASONS WE NEED TO STOP D E S I G N I N G F O R O U R S E L V E S

BY MEGAN KIERSTEAD WWW.SOCIALERGONOMICS.COM @MEGKIERSTEAD

A CHANGE IN MINDSET  

MEGAN – UX DESIGNER Age: Upper 20’s Languages spoken: English, sarcasm Education: Graduate school Web skill: Expert/addicted Job: Social Ergonomics

Goals: spread design gospel, make the world a better place, improve technology

Frustrations: lazy design, bad interfaces

Tech owned: Apple laptop, iPad, Android phone, Kindle

THE WORLD IS COMPLEX, SO STOP OVERSIMPLIFYING  

DESIGN IS A BALANCE BETWEEN LIMITS & FREEDOM  

DESIGN REQUIRES EMPATHY

SOCIAL ERGONOMICS: DESIGN TO FIT PEOPLE  

EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT, SO WE’RE ALL THE SAME

•  Motivations/goals – power user vs. novice, risk aversion, willingness to explore

•  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

EVERYONE HAS DIFFERENT GOALS

•  Motivations/goals •  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Why?!

GENDER & ORIENTATION: LIVING IN THE DARK AGES

Better …

Best?

•  Motivations/goals •  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

RACE IN THE UNITED STATES

•  Motivations/goals •  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

AGE IS MORE THAN JUST A NUMBER

•  Motivations/goals •  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

BAD NEWS – YOUR ICONS ARE PROBABLY TOO SMALL

•  Motivations/goals •  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

EDUCATION != INTELLIGENCE

•  Motivations/goals •  Gender •  Race •  Age •  Physical differences •  Socioeconomic Status •  Social network – affects learning, awareness, adoption

INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

CLIQUES AREN’T ONLY FOR HIGH SCHOOL

WHAT CAN I DO?

Develop Your Empathetic Brain by Exposing Yourself to People & Situations Outside Your Comfort Zone

Don’t Assume You Know the Answer… Iterate and Listen

Support Different Interaction Styles

THE IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE & MEANING

CULTURE SHAPES MEANING  

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN COLOR MEANING

http://visual.ly/what-colors-mean-different-cultures

EVEN IF SOMEONE UNDERSTANDS SOMETHING, THEY MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DISCOVER IT  

http://visual.ly/understanding-illiteracy

LITERACY – SOME DESPRESSING NUMBERS

http://read-able.com/

Make Your Content Understandable by EVERYONE

WHAT CAN I DO?

Understand how content will be understood by different types of people

Use content that is familiar and consistent

Resist the urge to coin new terms

IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY

DISABILITIES

http://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/accessibility

W3C Accessibility Standards

http://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/complete.html

Visual Blindness, color deficiency Speech Stuttering, muteness Cognitive/Neurological Learning disabilities, memory issues Physical Arthritis, amputation Auditory Deafness, hard of hearing

Tools:

NORMAL VISION

DEUTERANOPIA – ~5% MALES GREEN DEFICIENCY

TRITANOPIA – ~0.5% MALES BLUE DEFICIENCY

http://visual.ly/understanding-illiteracy

COLORBLINDNESS CAN DESTROY MEANING

NORMAL VISION COLOR DEFICIENT VISION

Color Oracle

Sim Daltonism

Color Brewer

WHAT CAN I DO?

Make accessibility an explicit part of your process

TECHNOLOGY ACCESS & LITERACY: NO, EVERYONE DOES NOT HAVE AN IPHONE

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/01/09/the-fastest-and-slowest-internet-speeds-in-america/

UNEQUAL INTERNET ACCESS

SMARTPHONES AREN’T EVERYWHERE YET

WHAT CAN I DO?

Think outside your own devices – do without

DO YOU MAKE DESIGN INCLUSIVE OR DIVERSE?

DESIGN IS A MORAL ENDEAVOR

DESIGN FOR EVERYONE ISN’T JUST RIGHT IT’S A GOOD IDEA

SOCIAL ERGONOMICS WWW.SOCIALERGONOMICS.COM MEGAN@SOCIALERGONOMICS.COM @MEGKIERSTEAD