World Interaction Design Day 2018

Designing for Diversity and Inclusion

A system is a reflection of the values of the people who designed it. This is one quote I repeatedly use when I try to align a team of designers. Often you will find arguments online around design, designers and the politics. We will often find one side who will say that connecting things like UX, Design and politics is illogical. Often than not what you choose to design for (and not design for), the decisions you make and who you include in those decisions very much comes from what you value — which is inherently political.

Everyday we make decisions based on these values.

Will you spend time designing your marketing material, website and app for the small percentage of people with disabilities?

Will you ask on a form what sex they were assigned at birth? Do you use the term sex or gender?

Do you create a voice AI that is gendered female or male and why make that decision?

Even the way you interact with your team. Do you question or act the same way if you were talking to a cisgendered heterosexual male vs a woman or someone who openly identifies as queer or of another race?

As designers, everything we do affects the human condition. Infact our process ,“Human Centered Design” has the word Human in it. The question is now, do we acknowledge these people who live on these margins as “human”? Human enough that we acknowledge their needs as just as important as ours.

These are thoughts I’d like everyone to reflect about as we start tonights event. This is the first ever World Interaction Design Day and appropriately the theme is about designing for diversity and inclusion. Before we begin please give your hands to our fabulous design team, Alex who sold me on doing this event at the last minute and Ferds who worked hard trying to get all the logistics done. Our amazing marketing team who helped get us the visibility we need, Dexter our COO for giving us all the support for making this happen.

Now without anymore delay, I, as a proud Gay man and PWD welcome you all to tonights event and I hope you all have a meaningful and educational night.

Taken from the opening remarks of the first World Interaction Design Day: Makati held in the Kalibrr Office, Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines.