Design best practices from a DEI perspective
Research-informed practices help to ensure that every design decision respects and reflects the diversity of users, fostering an environment where all voices and needs are considered from ideation to final implementation.
Inclusive Research Methods
When conducting user research, engage with participants from a wide range of backgrounds, including different races, ethnicities, genders, abilities, and socio-economic statuses. This helps to uncover a broad spectrum of user needs.
Collaborate directly with underrepresented or marginalized groups in the design process. Co-design sessions give these users a direct voice in shaping the product or service.
Choose the environments that best fit the audience you want your research to represent. For example, users with technical challenges are not likely to be members of platforms like User Interviews; therefore, conducting user interviews by phone could be a better alternative.
Empathy Mapping with Diversity in Mind
- When creating empathy maps, include personas from diverse backgrounds and demographics. This ensures you're considering multiple perspectives and experiences, including those of underrepresented groups.
Persona Development with Equity Consideration
Create personas that reflect a broad range of cultural, gender, ability, and age differences. For example, design personas for users with disabilities, non-binary gender identities, and those from different cultural backgrounds.
Avoid perpetuating harmful stereotypes in persona development. For example, if you're creating a persona from a lower-income background, avoid reinforcing negative assumptions about their lifestyle or abilities.
Accessibility as a Core Principle
Follow the principles of universal design, which focuses on making products usable by as many people as possible, regardless of their age, ability, or situation. This includes foundational practices such as writing semantic HTML and using descriptive alt text, as well as making use of features like adaptable text sizes, intuitive navigation, and voice-over capabilities. Read more about thoughtbot's approach to accessibility.
Ensure color choices meet accessibility standards for users with visual impairments or color blindness. Common tools used for this purpose are WebAIM, Chrome DevTools, Stark, and Able.
Bias-Free Visual Representation
Use images and icons that represent a wide range of ethnicities, body types, genders, and ages. Avoid defaulting to stereotypes as it relates to how leadership roles are represented in imagery.
Choose typefaces that support multiple languages and scripts, particularly when designing for global audiences. Be mindful of how different fonts may display in non-Latin alphabets.
Participatory Design
Host participatory design workshops where people from marginalized groups can directly contribute ideas, critiques, and solutions. This method ensures the design reflects their real needs and priorities.
Regularly incorporate feedback from diverse user groups throughout the design process, not just at the testing stage. This allows for continuous improvements in inclusivity.
Ethical Design
In the initial problem-framing stage, consider how the problem affects different demographic groups differently. Reframe the problem from the perspective of those who might be the most vulnerable or excluded.
Be mindful during ideation to be explicitly inclusive. For example, when playing speedy 8s for ideation, include a prompt to understand the needs of participants to determine if adjustments need to be made to tooling or approach.
Be conscious of how design decisions can negatively impact marginalized communities. For example, a facial recognition feature might exclude or misrepresent users of darker skin tones if not tested thoroughly across a diverse range of people.
User Testing Across Abilities
In addition to the general user testing process, include users with varying abilities, including those with disabilities, to ensure your design accommodates different needs. For example, a mobile app design could be tested with individuals who rely on screen readers or those with limited mobility.
During remote testing, ensure that you are providing tools and resources (such as captions or screen reader-friendly environments) to enable participation from people with disabilities.
Localization for Cultural Sensitivity
- If your product or service will be used in different geographic regions it is important to involve users in the design process in order to consider local customs, cultural preferences, and norms in the design. Color choices have different connotations in various cultures, and symbols or metaphors that work in one region might not resonate elsewhere. For example, making an assumption that Face ID for security is beneficial as it's something that is frequent in the Americas, however this may not work for people living in places where residents cover their faces in public.
Microinteractions that Reflect Diversity
- Even small elements like error messages, onboarding tutorials, and animations can be designed to be inclusive. For example, in a sign-up process, offering gender options beyond the binary (Male/Female) promotes inclusivity.