There is no average person: why designing with intersectionality in mind is critical


One of the most common ways to solve a design problem is to create personas based on ‘average’ users, and use a human-centred process targeted to these groups of similar users. Designers often learn to ignore anything outside of these personas, avoiding the “edge cases” that are seen as too much work to deliver business value.

In effect, intersectionality negates the average myth. Behaviour, belief, and a confluence of difference means the average is, in fact, a series of unique individuals. Therefore, designing for the average can be unintentionally alienating.

When we design for the “average,” we are designing for a blend of average characteristics that are rarely in one individual. This means that a design we intended “for everyone,” meets the needs of no one.

Making strategy, design, and information architecture decisions with intersectionality at the forefront will guide your team in identifying genuinely user-centric design requirements. Once you establish these requirements, your product or service will be able to meet the goals and expectations of your users across different circumstances, contexts, and environments, and to embrace their unique identity.

This talk will explore the challenges, opportunities, and methods of bringing intersectional thinking to your work, including reaching a broader market, reducing costs and effort by considering other interaction models by default, and reducing risk that comes from alienating parts of your market.

One of the most common ways to approach product and service objectives is to create personas and conduct research based on 'average' target users. But this approach falls apart when you consider that every person has a variety of shifting needs, identities, and contexts of use.

In my talk, "There is no average person. Why it's critical to design with intersectionality in mind", I highlight the research behind prioritizing individuals over averages and how inclusive research practices can grow the impact of your work. 

You'll leave the talk with an improved understanding of markets, new approaches to opening up market access, insights on how to deliver products and services that better serve increasingly diverse markets, and an understanding of the ROI of inclusive design practices.

Interested in bringing this talk to your organization?

Hi, I’m Lee. And I’d like to tell you about my talk, “There is no average person. Why it’s critical to design with intersectionality in mind.”

My motivation behind the talk stems from a sweeping, industry-wide problem we need to address.

Looking at websites alone as a lens, we can see that well over 90% of websites do not meet basic accessibility objectives. And accessibility is only part of the story.

The result of our industry’s collective inability to deliver products and services for all means that 90% of websites actively limit access, usability, and content engagement.

This industry-wide problem doesn’t begin and end with websites. It’s a part of how we work in developing any products or services.

We design for the average and avoid the edge cases.

My talk highlights the flawed methodologies and the real data that shows there is no average to target or edge case customer to avoid.

You’ll have the evidence you need to bring this discussion back to your team members.

With practical considerations around customer markets and segmentation, product and service planning, and the ROI of inclusive design.

That way, you’ll be able to turn discussions from “why would we invest in serving edge cases” to “why aren’t we serving our whole market.”

In my talk, I highlight the research behind prioritizing individuals over averages and how inclusive research practices can grow the impact of your work. 

Understanding why it's critical to design products and services with intersectionality in mind

Let’s explore in this video the three main ways the accessibility and inclusion landscape has advanced over the last three decades, and why we’ve never been closer to access for all than we are today.

As the Americans With Disabilities Act turns 30 we find ourselves at an exciting inflection point in history.

There are three factors that are together building towards the most accessible, most welcoming, most inclusive world we’ve seen over the course of humanity.

As awareness of individuality continues to grow and reach acceptance, as the differences between all of us and our intersectional and shifting needs are considered and as we see an increase in acknowledgement of marginalized communities and the systems that limit access and opportunity, all of this collective progress and ongoing change has helped those of us who are responsible for designing products and services, find new ways of working that better serve people.

Our collective efforts towards access and opportunity for all are supported by legislation, such as the Americans With Disabilities Act, or ADA alongside AODA, which is an equivalent legislation here in Ontario, Canada, as well as many other global and regional accessibility compliance and human rights requirements. This legislation has helped raise the profile of accessible solutions and the cost of noncompliance.

All of this applies to our physical world as it does to digital, but it’s 

technology, especially digital channels that are the third factor.

Over the past 10 years, a combination of computer power, software, and interaction models in web browsers, apps, and other connected devices have made it easier than ever to engage with content.

As an example, 15 years ago, screen readers that help translate interfaces on screens into words that are spoken aloud costs thousands of dollars. Now they’re built into your smartphone in ever more intuitive ways. You can see this yourself if you turn on VoiceOver on an iPhone, or TalkBack on Android.

This combination of access to previously expensive technology that is now a default part of the most widely used devices in the history of humanity changes everything, but this is also why it’s so important that all designers take the time now to build accessible and inclusive practices into their work.

It’s easier than ever to access content if we designed for access and it’s easier than ever to design for access, because the tools are available to all of us.

Let’s work together to realize the impact of this inflection point and ensure access for all.

Are you ready to try out VoiceOver on iPhone or TalkBack on Android?

We mentioned in the video two different screen reading technologies: VoiceOver and TalkBack, for iPhone and Android respectively.

Looking at your website and the content you promote through these services is an excellent way to understand how capable these services are and if you have any gaps in how you’re sharing content that may be limiting your access to market.

Here’s how to enable these accessibility tools:

How to enable screen reading on an iPhone (VoiceOver)

VoiceOver is a screen reading accessibility feature on iOS that reads content on the screen aloud and enables gesture control of the device.

You can turn on VoiceOver on an iPhone using the following steps:

 How to enable screen reading on an Android device (TalkBack)

Similar to VoiceOver on the iPhone, Android devices on the newer editions of the Android operating system have a screen reading feature called TalkBack.

You can turn on TalkBack using these steps:

Whether it’s apps, websites, or web apps, determining the accessibility of these digital products is best done 

through real testing with accessibility tools and the people who use them.

accessible research, design, and testing processes

 into your team’s workflow from the start, saving time and money by avoiding future reworks to meet usability and 

Need help improving accessibility and inclusion in your products and services?

Get in touch to learn how inclusive design can help your team can open up access to markets by delivering more usable, accessible, and inclusive products and services.

We find ourselves at an exciting point in history where three factors have made our world more accessible and inclusive than ever before.

IAC21: Information Architecture Conference, April 30 talk

There is no average person: why designing with intersectionality in mind is critical

Featured
articles

Understanding why it's critical to design products and services with intersectionality in mind

What’s next for accessibility and inclusion in products and services?

IAC21: Information Architecture Conference, April 30 talk

There is no average person: why designing with intersectionality in mind is critical

Featured articles

Understanding why it's critical to design products and services with intersectionality in mind

What’s next for accessibility and inclusion in products and services?

Featured
articles