Sukupuolittuneet käsitykset älypuhelinsuunnittelusta - tutkimus naisiin vetoavien älypuhelinten suunnittelusta
Koskinen, Annina · Aaltodoc (Aalto University) · 2012
Smartphones are expected to replace feature phones in the developed markets. Men are adopting them faster than women and that creates a market opportunity for companies that succeed in offering products that appeal to women. However, there is little research done on how to do that, as gender is typically a neglected topic in user-centered product design with the aim of accomplishing a "design for all" philosophy. Still, there is evidence that women feel that most consumer electronics companies fail in creating appealing products to them. This study investigates how to design appealing smartphones for women. That is accomplished by studying the differences between men and women, role of gender in product design, gendered perceptions of smartphone appeal, and women as users of technology and smartphones in particular. The research method is qualitative and the empirical data is gathered by interviewing consumers, and professionals working in smartphone design and development. A preliminary study investigates consumers' gendered perceptions of smartphone design appeal and a main study tries to reveal what is the current role of gender in smartphone design and what kind of knowledge the experts working in a smartphone company have formed on women through their work. During the research, factors that may lead to smartphones that appeal more to men than to women were identified and practical recommendations on how to fix that are presented. It is not necessary to tailor smartphones specifically to female users, but to make sure that the design is universal, personal, holistic, simple, meaningful and adaptive. To support the design work, it is recommended that the teams designing and developing the smartphones are diverse by gender or at least educated on gendered preferences and needs. In addition it is important to use gender-balanced testing groups with varying technical competences and to always analyse user research results by gender and to report any found gendered differences. Designing products that are successfully perceived as gender-neutral does not mean that gender of users should be ignored. On the contrary, it requires making sure that the products meet the needs and wishes of both men and women.