Our choice to use the word women (over gender, or inclusive) is driven by our commitment to radical transparency. In the current era of "woke-washing," inclusive language and terminology are continually evolving. This evolution sometimes categorises identities in ways that can be detrimental if the intended support is lacking. Therefore, we choose to be radically transparent that our starting point and where our research is centered is with, and for at the moment: women.
While our primary focus is on women, we've observed that our insights have broader applications, contributing to the design of improved solutions for a diverse audience. However, this is not the ultimate solution. We aspire to witness the development of methods, frameworks, and tools dedicated to addressing the unique needs of other marginalised groups. Our hope is that our work can serve as inspiration and support for these initiatives, as each step taken in this direction brings us closer to the realisation of a genuinely equitable and more just world.
Women needs and lived experiences are diverse, shaped by factors such as location, cultural context, race, sexuality, socio-economic status, religion, ability, and more. Women-Centric Design is built by being in conversation with gender and feminist practitioners, encompassing a wide range of perspectives (see our project contributors). Nevertheless, our commitment extends to expanding & diversifying the spectrum of voices included in our research to enhance and extend the impact of these tools.
“Contexts are forever evolving, and so should products,” said Lorena Fuentes, one of our project contributors. We recognise that this work is an ongoing endeavor. We remain committed to continually expanding the spectrum of voices that inform this work, reflection, learning, building our repository of examples, and testing the applicability of our tools.
Do you have feedback you’d like to share to help us improve this work? We’d love to hear it!
↗ Contribute a resource/feedback to the project
↗ Contribute funds to the project
Pre-requisites for applying women-centric design