Diversity at Ryver
How did this up-and-comer do?
Next up in project #ICanSeeMe we are reviewing the diversity on Ryver’s website. Ryver makes a team communication tool. Their ad showed up in my Twitter feed last week, and after checking out their company website I knew I needed to run the Krieger test on them. For anyone who needs a review of the Krieger test here it is, otherwise skip down to see how Ryver scored.
Important Definitions
Minority: My definition of minority includes women, non-white people, and individuals with disabilities.
The Measures
- Presence and ease of finding minorities: are there multiple minorities or is the site just using the same token minority in multiple photos? How many clicks does it take to come across someone who is not a white able male? Does it require scrolling?
- Minorities involved in teams with non-minorities: are they shown working with others or are they confined to their own teams? Are they on the main pages or just the diversity and inclusion page (looking at you, Amazon)?
- Minorities in non-stereotypical roles: are the women all doing artsy tasks while holding babies? Are the Asians all solving math problems on white boards? Is the corporate board all white?
- Minorities in positions of power: are they the ones giving orders or taking them?
- Overall feelings: was I left feeling saddened by the state of diversity in tech or do I feel hopeful and want to high five the CEO?
The Calculations
Each of the measures is scored on a 10 point scale. From there a website’s raw diversity score is calculated by adding up all of its sub-scores and dividing by 50. Then a curve is added based on how well it did compared to other websites to get its diversity letter grade.
Now here’s how Ryver Scored
Presence of and Ease of Finding Minorities Score: 7/10
The first thing I noticed on the home page was that the users’ photos were of white people or no one. This held true on the other pages too.
In fact, the only pictures of non-white users I could find were in the background of one of the videos. Claude, Jim, and Brian (all white sounding names) were the only ethnic minorities I could find. Just 3 guys. All male. The Ryver developers group photos did have slightly more ethnic diversity though.
Ryver’s Communities page was the only one that fared well in terms of ethnic diversity. It also had a good representation of women, and all together it was the only page truly reflective of the broader community. The rest of the pages lacked significant ethnic diversity.
Next I went back and looked at gender representation. The home page had a nearly 50/50 gender split. This held true for every page accept for the About Us page. That is possibly the most equal gender split on website that I have ever seen. But here’s the thing, featuring a bunch of white women does not make up for the lack of ethnic diversity on the site. Because of this lack of non-white representation, I have to give Ryver a 7/10.
Minorities on Teams with Non-Minorities Score: 6/10
It looked like every group photo had at least one girl and some had an ethnic minority. The only group that was not primarily white was this one.
But still more groups looked like:
Notice the abundance of white hands? Sure, some had manicures, but still.
This shows D- quality work, so logically Ryver scores a 6/10.
Minorities in Non-Stereotypical Roles Score: 0/10
Let’s start with the videos. Although it was refreshing that the home page featured a woman in a video, lets see what she’s talking about:
Okay, “Things have gotten stale … I am in a new relationship.” So Jane Doe is breaking up with some John. Never mind keeping work and relationships separate and appropriate workplace behavior. Let’s keep listening, “Its an open relationship, everyone participates with as much intimacy as they want”. And then there’s “the action builds, there’s role playing, wow… it was weird at first, but then we liked it, a lot”. Oh dear. Now Ryver, I’ll admit some of the puns in the beginning were clever, but this video crossed a line. If you have ever worked with a woman before you would know they talk business. They don’t constantly kvetch about their relationships. And I get you wanted to feature a woman to look more diverse. But having a woman talk about sex instead of your product does not make you diverse, it makes you a fast food company.
Maybe you could rerecord this with your CEO Pat Sullivan doing the talking. If I’m not mistaken he already has his own video where he talks about your product in a totally non-sexualized way. And of course your website features a third video on the product narrated by a man that is totally technical.
Next up, we have the portrayal of minorities on Ryver’s blog. I only looked at page one because it the first thing you see. This page is 100% white. We’re talking whiter than pre-peed on snow. Nearly as bad? Its representation of women.
The blog only features women in terms of relationships, while men are shown being successful.
Now for the most hilariously awful part: the Ryver versus Slack page. Now UX is an art, and like any art it tells a story. Here is the story it tells:
Who is Slack? My sisters and I had some debate over this, but he seems to be a half-asian half-white brogrammer in a hoodie.
What’s wrong with Slack? Well now he’s either Indian or Black. So what does he have in common with the last Slack? He’s not white, unlike the Ryver guy. But guys, different is not deficient. And if the second Slack guy at the podium was an attempt to pay homage to Slack’s diverse award acceptors at the #Crunchies, you are doing it wrong. A) he should be a she and B) trade in the suit for a dress. Because yes, engineers can wear dresses.
Isn’t Slack free? Well the dollar signs on the expense report seem to be confusing this woman. But then again she handled the dollar sign on the price tag of her pretty pink shoes fairly well. Seriously, Ryver? You should know if you give a woman an expense report she will know it better than anyone because she is tired of hearing since the age of 7 women can’t work numbers. And P.S. the UK labor party can tell you the pink shoes won’t help you any in gaining women’s support.
How is Ryver better? He’s white. Ryver, you are showing a multi-racial boy jealously eyeing a white boy. So tacky. And once again the hoodie. Has anyone else noticed if you put a hoodie on a white guy people think college student or programmer but if you put a black guy in a hoodie people think thug (*cough cough* Trayvon Martin)?
Is Ryver trying to be the “Slack Killer”? No. Just no.
Should I trust Ryver? Well who wouldn’t want to trust your average Bonanza-esque normal healthy American boy? Native Americans. And me. I personally would not trust Ryver after what I’ve seen today.
So for the first time in Krieger Test history: 0/10
Minorities in Positions of Power Score: 2/10
The only powerful minority I could find was one Asian guy on the About Us page. As for the exec board, let’s just say if you put a stamp on and tried to mail it, UPS would deliver because it is totally male. And for ethnic minorities in power, I will just leave this image here:
But you are just starting out as a company, so I will be generous and give you: 2/10.
Overall Feelings Score: 3/10
Ryver did have the highest female to male ratio in Krieger test history, but the portrayal of those women diminishes that achievement. There were a couple of ethnic minorities shown and they were represented well (excluding the Ryver vs Slack page). There was no one with a physical disability, nor an accessibility page; but that is standard for any non-tech giant. All together I was left feeling disappointed, which is why Ryver scored 3/10.
Results
The total score was 18/50. That’s 36%. But with a curve they get a C-. What really tanked Ryver’s score was the minorities in non-stereotypical roles section of the test. And I am not the first one to point this out to Ryver. 3 months ago this guy commented on the Dear John video. Notice the lack of replies? Good responding, Ryver. As for that one thumbs up? That was from me.
Of my diversity test results in the works, their results are the lowest so far. And I know some people may say, “they are just starting out, cut them a slack”. But here’s the thing, being a startup does not excuse your treatment and portrayal of minorities.
A Message to the Company
You may have built a great product, but as a woman, after interacting with your site I would not use it. In fact, the experience was somewhat patronizing. I know you are still in the up-and-coming stages, but remember: UX does not stop at your app, it is inclusive of your website too. So put some focus on making it inclusive. A website is like a company’s welcome mat. It says something. And you don’t want yours looking like a white-only version of Little Rascals.
’Cause if you do, all I have to say is:
