The Ins and Outs of Inclusiveness in Design

The 5 Ways Wayfair Design Cultivates an Inclusive Culture

Working with the Experience Design team at Wayfair has changed my perception of inclusion in the design industry. I can only say I had never felt that I belonged in a workplace until now. A few short months ago, it felt like being a Latina stood in my way of succeeding in the design world. Before I joined Wayfair Experience Design team last December, I was constantly being interrupted and talked over in meetings with my design peers. It felt like my voice wasn’t heard. I had to work hard to play down my accent and appear “less Latina.” At Wayfair, it’s a night and day difference.

The two major reasons why I feel this way are that:

• I get to work every day alongside people from different countries, races, and all walks of life; which means I am not outnumbered in meetings anymore.
• Everyone on the team, especially our leaders, appreciates and celebrates our differences. Which is most important to me when it comes to a working environment.

In the words of Verna Myers, “Diversity is being invited to the party; Inclusion is being asked to dance.” We make great efforts in being inclusive, not simply diverse because we understand diversity fails without inclusion.

Since diversity has become a buzzword connected to creativity and innovation, many design orgs have started to improve the recruiting process to attract talented designers of every background and build more diverse teams. Many of these design orgs fail to retain that talent, and that’s because they lack the inclusive culture needed to keep them. Over the last months, I have had several one-on-one conversations with members from the Experience Design team and I’ve discovered some core patterns that summarize what the Experience Design team at Wayfair is doing right in terms of Diversity & Inclusion.

1. Leading with empathy

Within our first 90 days at Wayfair, we’re encouraged to meet one-on-one with leads across the Design team. These are powerful conversations that allow everyone on the team to establish a personal connection with our leads, and grow confidence. When we start diving into the Wayfair world, our 1–1s with our managers become a weekly check-in, where we are constantly empowered to voice our concerns, experiences and any ideas we might have. As simple as this sounds, it makes us feel like we are valued.

2. Recognizing all types of accomplishments

We do this often in many different ways. During meetings, through slack or email, or by using our own recognition tool. What I found interesting about this is that you are not only recognized for delivering great work, but for being a supportive co-worker, organizing a great outing, or sharing your knowledge about anything. It’s ingrained in our team culture.

3. Creating opportunities for everyone to express opinions freely

One good example of this is our design reviews. In these meetings, we’re all encouraged all to take turns providing feedback on each other’s work. Often times our team leads ask questions to help spark conversation so we all feel invited to speak up. Moreover, we are encouraged to do it.

4. Sharing stories and encouraging others to share their own

Whether it’s at an organic get-together over drinks or an organized team-building activity, we set some time to share our major challenges and wins for the week. Everyone is encouraged to share their story and actively listen to their teammates. By using a storytelling framework, we’re able to respond in a different way and cultivate empathy.

5. Mentoring and empowering

Last but not least, I have found that: when I share my stories here, I’m met with support and encouragement from my leads. This has given me a crucial relationship where I not only know who to go to, but that I can count on them and they trust my opinion.

While we have this core of best practices, there is always room to grow and reflect. When asked about belonging at Wayfair Thao Nguyen noted an improvement she’d like to see in the future:

“As I progress in my career at Wayfair, I would love to see more people who I can identify with in the position of leadership — more women, more people of color, and more women of color.”

What she describes in wanting to see from representation in leadership is one of the potential initiatives that could strengthen our team.

As we continue to grow in inclusiveness, we will share more stories of diversity in the Wayfair Design Team. In the meantime, just keep in mind that inclusion is about the big and the small. Any small empathetic gesture you make can have an impact.