one-size-fits-men

• SAHAR TOSIFI
• YUSUF JATAU

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(HCD)
What is it?
Can you guess?

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(HCD)
Human-centered design (HCD) sure
sounds like a non-discriminatory approach
to problem solving. After all, what could be
more inclusive than the word “human?”
But when HCD isn’t used effectively, and
fails to take all users into account, it can
lose its underlying spirit of equality. In
fact, it stops being true HCD at all.

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 Invisible Women:

Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Unfortunately, the default male is also a stand-in

for “human”, with consequences for women that
range from the annoying (longer loo queues,
phones that don’t fit our hands) to potentially
lethal (protective clothing that fails to protect,
misdiagnosis of heart attacks).

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 Female=Male ?
• Around the world, women often earn less money
than men. This creates a widespread problem
because the men now have higher purchasing
power and as a result, many products and
innovations are mainly designed with men in mind.
This can be a significant issue for women
everywhere because their specific needs might be
ignored in these designs.
• When "human" is equated with "male," many
products and services become less effective for
women. For instance, the average smartphone,
designed for male hands at 5.5 inches in length,
doesn't fit into the average woman's pocket.
Workplaces are often kept at temperatures suited
for male physiology, and speech-recognition 5
technology tends to favor lower-pitched voices,
making it 70% more likely to recognize a man's
voice.
 a huge part of your company’s
future success.

• women are a rapidly growing consumer

demographic. According to Microsoft, women
represent the largest growing market
opportunity. Boston Consulting Group
estimates that, by 2028, women will control
nearly three-quarters (72%) of consumer
spending worldwide. Understanding women’s
distinct needs and common values, and
negotiating the right balance therein, will be a
huge part of your company’s future success.

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ONE SIZE FITS MEN
A reflection on gender
biased design

One Size Fits Men is a project that

originated from ideas about
gender-biased design, widely
covered by Caroline Criado Perez
in her book Invisible Women. 7
Does male-centered design endanger
women's lives?

These inequalities look pretty harmless when compared to some

of the biases in high-stakes fields including cardiology and
automotive safety.
• Heart failure trials overwhelmingly use male participants,
making women 50 percent more likely to be misdiagnosed
after a heart attack.
• Crash-test dummies are built to reflect the average man’s
physical dimensions, making women 47 percent more likely to
be seriously injured in car crashes.
In other words, male-centered design puts women’s lives at risk. 8
 •Architectural bias has infiltrated the design world, manifesting
in various ways. Instances like glass staircases that overlook
GENDER BIAS IN the practicality of women's dresses or skirts, persistent long
ARCHITECTURA lines for women's restrooms because of a limited amount of
interior fittings, and doors that require excessive force highlight
L DESIGN a pervasive lack of consideration for the comfort and
convenience of women.

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 GENDER BIAS IN
ARCHITECTURAL
DESIGN

•While the scarcity of female architects in

prominent architectural firms may partially
explain these disparities, the issue extends
beyond gender alone. Both men and women
contribute to this design problem, sometimes
inadvertently. Many women have internalized
bias to such an extent that they fail to
recognize it, or they perceive it as so
normalized that they lack the motivation to
seek change. Moreover, those responsible for
effecting these changes may sometimes
dismiss or suppress these concerns, further
exacerbating the issue.

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 (the starchitect)
•Women continually face challenges in pursuing their passions within the architectural field due to spaces that
were predominantly crafted to cater to the "starchitect" archetype. This enduring myth is cultivated during
architectural education, where prominent architects are glorified, reinforcing the notion that they possess the
ultimate wisdom in design. Consequently, students in architecture tend to unquestioningly adopt the standards
established by these "starchitects," which may not always align with practicality in contemporary contexts.
Examples like Le Corbusier (as well as more contemporary figures such as Bjarke Ingels and Frank Gehry)
illustrate this phenomenon. 11
 (the starchitect)
•Le Corbusier's design philosophy was rooted in
his groundbreaking concept of the human scale,
known as the Modulor, which proposed a
mathematical relationship between human
dimensions and the natural world. However, it is
essential to critically evaluate what Le Corbusier
deemed sacred enough to serve as the
standardized foundation for all his architectural
works. The Modulor, unsurprisingly, was based on
the dimensions of a 6-foot-tall Caucasian male,
reinforcing the male form as the default standard
of design. This standard excluded not only women
but also men who do not fit these proportions. It's
crucial to note that Le Corbusier's intentions were
not malicious but rather created out of a lack of
awareness regarding the significant role of the
female gender in architectural design.

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 CRASH TEST DUMMIES

Gender Disparity in Car Crashes: Women are 17% more

likely to die and 73% more likely to sustain serious injuries
in car accidents than men.

Inadequate Crash Test Representation: Car companies

predominantly use male dummies in crash tests, with female
dummies often not required, resulting in inadequate
representation.

Physiological differences ignored: Female crash test

dummies fail to account for key physiological differences
like smaller size, lighter weight, broader hips, wider
pelvises, and closer proximity to the steering wheel
compared to men.
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 CRASH TEST DUMMIES

Safety innovations for men: Safety innovations often

prioritize male physiology, disadvantaging women in areas
like whiplash protection and airbags.

Recent advancements: In 2022, Swedish researchers

developed a female car crash test dummy representing the
average woman's height and weight, marking a notable
advancement in car crash testing.

Future advancements: A more representative female

dummy may lead to requirements for use in tests by
organizations like NHTSA (National Highway Traffic 14

Safety Administration) and IIHS (The Insurance Institute for

Highway Safety), potentially improving safety data,
innovations, and women's safety in car accidents.
MAIN ISSUES SURROUNDING
CRASH TESTS
•Car companies use male-representing dummies,
known as "crash test dummies," leaving women
unrepresented and compromising their safety.
•While there is a female dummies available, it's not
mandatory for use in the comprehensive car crash test
practice.
•The female dummy used is essentially a downsized
version of the male dummy, lacking key physiological
distinctions found in women.
•The current female dummy is so small it can double
as a crash test dummy for a 12 to 13-year-old child.
•As of 2019, Consumer Reports noted the absence of
a crash test dummy representing the average adult
female.

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• In 1998, pianist Christopher Donison highlighted the division of the world into
two constituencies: those with larger hands and those with smaller hands.
• Donison, a male pianist with smaller-than-average hands, struggled with traditional
keyboards, but the issue extends to women as well due to the data indicating that
women, on average, have smaller hands than men.
• Despite the data on hand size differences, design standards often focus on the
average male hand, implying that "one-size-fits-men" is synonymous with "one-
size-fits-all."
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17
• Women, on average, have smaller
hands than men.
• Equipment design often centers
around the average male hand,
assuming that what fits men will
also suit everyone.
• The average female handspan falls
between seven and eight inches,
making traditional forty-eight-inch
keyboards a challenge for many
women.
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The standard piano
keyboard doesn’t just
make it harder for
female , it also affects
their health .

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Human-Centered Design seems
inclusive, but often, products
prioritize men, leaving women with
adaptations. The world defaults to
male-centric designs, which may
claim to be gender-neutral but
mainly suit males. This affects
women's safety, health, and time. A
mug project highlights gendered
perspectives and women's daily
challenges.

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JUST BECAUSE
IT
WORKS, DOESN’
T MEAN IT'S
EFFICIENT.

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Case
in the early 2000s when it was the smallest handsets
that were winning phone-measuring contests. That all
changed with the advent of the iPhone and its
pretenders. Suddenly it was all about the size of your
screen, and bigger was definitely better. The average
smartphone is now 5.5 inches, and while we’re
admittedly all extremely impressed by the size of your
screen, it’s a slightly different matter when it comes to
fitting into half the population’s hands (not to mention
minuscule or non-existent pockets). The average man
can fairly comfortably use his device one-handed — but
the average woman’s hand is not much bigger than the
handset itself.

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Case

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women’s health

•smartphones designed for male hands also may be

affecting women’s health .The research that does exist
on the health impact of smartphones is not positive .
although women’s hand size is demonstrably smaller
than men’s, and although women have been found to
have a higher prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms
and disorders, research into the impact of large
smartphones on hands and arms does not buck the
gender data gap trend . Women were significantly
under-represented as subjects, and the vast majority of
studies did not sex-disaggregate their data . This is
unfortunate because the few that did sex-disaggregate
their data reported a statistically significant gender
difference in the impact of phone size on women’s
hand and arm health.

ADD A FOOTER 24
Case

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Case

one-size-fits-men female mask

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Conclusion

"The Default Male" reflects society prioritizing

men's bodies, making women's experiences an
afterthought. This practice results in inadequate
data on women, leading to costly errors in policy
decisions based on big data.
Altogether, Invisible Women presents a
provocative and convincing case for
changing how society quantifies and
includes women’s experiences.
Everyone from the leisurely reader, to
the academic scholar, to the responsible
policymaker should consider Caroline
Criado Perez’s recommendations to
create an equitable and healthy society
for all women. 28
THANK YOU!

SAHAR TOSIFI
YUSUF JATAU

Email:
tosifisahar@gmail.com
Yusuf.jatau96@gmail.com