Finding a Real Advisor
The problem space I am trying to solve for has led me down an interesting design path. By not using technology as the primary means, but instead relying on dialogue and emotion to elicit behavioral change makes my design align closer to real interactions that happen in our daily lives that have the capacity to shape our ideas and perspectives––sometimes unconsciously.
This is the reason I needed an advisor who “ incorporates compassionate practices at every stage — a process where real people and their needs are reinforced and recentered from early explorations through design iterations through launch.” [1]
The irony is that I am designing an experience for men to [hopefully] solve a problem for women. It is a gamble that could completely backfire on me, but I remain confident because “when we make things for people at their worst, they’ll work that much better when people are at their best." [2]
I think that men [including myself] can do better when it comes to empathizing with women, and through my thesis design I hope to bring us closer to our best.
While searching for an advisor, I wanted someone who had an understanding of what effects unconscious bias for men could have on women––not just emotionally, but also real world impacts that affect woman in ways we don’t normally think puts them at risk more than men.
So I was delighted when I read this excerpt from an interview with my potential advisor:
“…look at gender in product design: crash-test dummies are all sized to the “average male,” and as a result, car accidents are far more dangerous for women than men. Medical research subjects are nearly always men — despite the fact that women experience illnesses at different rates than men, and respond to treatment differently. Of course we’ve transferred these same biased practices to the web. In this context, it’s not surprising that, say, Apple’s Health app didn’t include a period tracker — one of the most normal bits of data in the world — for an entire year after launch.” [3]
After reading this, I was fairly certain that this was the right person to advise me. I researched a bit more, and came across an article she wrote about using curiosity to fuel content work. She writes:
“Curiosity is inherently unsafe, always forcing us out of known lands and into unexplored regions. What drives us forward is a desire to push past this discomfort: to get to know our unknowns, and to become comfortable within them.”
In a sense, this is what I am trying to accomplish with my thesis––to make men more curious about women––beyond mere physicality––to push them out of their “known land” and develop empathy for the things they don’t know about women.
Curious to know who she is?
After being provided a brief introduction through my dept. chair, Liz Danzico, I sent an email to formally ask Sara Wachter-Boettcher if she would kindly consider becoming my thesis advisor.
Although she already has a jam packed schedule filled with running her own content strategy consultancy, writing and speaking at various conferences, she has accepted my offer, and I look forward to working with her over the next four months to help shape a successful project aimed at bringing men and women closer together.
Thank you, Sara.
[1] http://alistapart.com/article/design-for-real-life-excerpt
[2] Design for Real Life, Sara Wachter-Boettcher & Eric Meyer
[3] http://alistapart.com/article/design-for-real-life-interview-with-sara-wachter-boettcher
