Designers bring women-first mindset to next generation of products

What you probably already know: Everyday products are, by and large, made for and by men. Failure to consider the differences between the male and female body has resulted in “unisex” designs that, let’s face it, are better suited to men. From crash-test dummies and urine sample cups to pianos and smartphones, our world caters to a man’s form. Consequences of the so-called “default male approach” range from subtle, relatively minor inconveniences for women (a grocery store shelf is out of reach because it was made to accommodate an average man’s height) to potentially life-threatening situations (a police officer is injured because her body armor, made for a man, doesn’t fit right). Some of these gaps in design parity are slowly closing as the “shrink it and pink it” era gets left where it belongs: in the dust.

Why? In its infancy, professional industrial design primarily focused on how a product looked or functioned. Today, “an empathetic designer is able to ‘walk in someone else’s shoes’ through research and observation to glean insights that will inform the rest of the design process and ultimately result in a design solution that solves a problem in a beneficial and meaningful way,” according to the Industrial Designers Society of America. This shift toward inclusive innovation has not only paved the way for entirely new inventions that attempt to meet women’s needs, but also advances the pursuit of improved existing designs.

What it means: CNN recently highlighted 10 items that have been thoughtfully redesigned with women in mind. Musician Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, collaborated with guitar manufacturer Ernie Ball Music Man to create an electric guitar that not only flatters the female form, but is also sleek, lightweight, and, in St. Vincent’s words, accommodates “a breast (or two).” Speaking of which, several women-led startups are making breast pumps that are more mobile and comfortable for on-the-go mothers, and a team of women in France created a device that makes mammograms more comfortable. Athletic shoes are also getting a leg up. Female soccer players — who until recently had to wear men’s cleats, which resulted in a range of injuries — now have options that accommodate their foot shape and weight distribution. Women’s running shoes have been around for a while, but brands like Saysh (co-founded by Olympic-track-star-turned-maternal-health advocate Allyson Felix) are improving upon the concept while offering perks like free sneakers for customers whose foot size changes during pregnancy. The fitness industry is also witnessing the rise of wearable health trackers that feature tech for female physiology in a more stylish package. Other notable redesigns include bicycle seats, women-made shapewear, crash test dummies, desk chairs, and even spacesuits.

What happens next: As always, progress is to be celebrated, but modern design equity still has a long way to go. While women influence the vast majority of consumer purchasing decisions (up to 80% globally, 85% domestically), an estimated 19% of practicing industrial designers in the U.S. are women. Classrooms and graduation rates are split roughly 50/50 down the gender line, but outside the academic sphere, women are not well represented in design professions and often exit these careers within a few years. Those who remain do not reach upper leadership roles at the same rate as their male counterparts, which leads to the broader conversation of why progress toward gender parity among boards and C-suite roles has stagnated. From an economic standpoint, a diverse design team improves the bottom line — products made by women, for women, will ultimately be purchased by the world’s most powerful spending demographic: women.