Eyes opened

I have recently read a book by Caroline Criado-Perez called “Invisible women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men”. The author lines up numbers of examples of “gender-neutral” designs, proving how these were actually biased and what are the consequences for the users — mostly, women.

Such gender blindness can cause inconveniences in some cases — like smartphones that were designed too big for female hands, but in other — like cars that are safer for taller users, fatal injury and death.

One of the things that the author is trying to prove, is that whenever we think of “people” we think “men”, unless stated otherwise — the prejudice that is at the root of gender inequalities. This thinking is not deliberate or malicious, it’s just been around for so long that we assume it as our own.

It is a heavy read, full of statistics, nevertheless it is eye opening — it made me think how important it is to be conscious of our own biases and getting to know who are we designing for. I have realised that even though I am a woman, I am also biased to think of an “average person” as of a “man”.

Shaped by bias

We live surrounded by objects designed by other people — the world they have created is a reflection of their biases. Inevitably, we are also being shaped by it. It is particularly important to be conscious of that if you are a designer yourself. The choices we make as designers can have unpredictable impact on lives of others. We have a responsibility not to perpetuate harmful patterns but to become aware of them and try to correct them.

The problem with biases is that they can live in our minds undetected. If you are not sure which one is living in your head rent free, there are lists of most common biases and how to counteract them out there (like this one). Basically, it all comes down to humility and awareness.

One size does not fit all

So, we are aware of our biases and methods to counteract them. Now let’s try to design something for a wide audience! How to ensure that everyone is happy with what you come up with? Can we use qualitative data to be sure we are not skewed by any prejudice?

While talking about large groups of people, it is tempting to establish an average within them and tailor your solution to fit that. There is a fascinating story about how that was proven to be an unlucky approach.

In 1950s the US Army began mass recruitment of new pilots to expand its air forces. And with that came a decline in performance and a rash of deaths. It was discovered that the cockpits were designed for an “average” man, based on ten critical physical dimensions — and not even one person possessed these “average” dimensions. The cockpits were designed to fit exactly no body.

Power of empathy

As designers we have a unique opportunity to shape the world around us. And there comes responsibility with that. At some point in designers career comes a point, where the growth is not impacted by how many new books and publications they read but rather how sensitive they become in spotting user’s pains and needs. Training in empathy is a constant, never-ending process.

Whether it is an app, that should be accessible for all ages, or a tool that should be safe for palms big and small, we must always put the user in center. It is equally crucial to be able to learn as to unlearn — to shed the beliefs and prejudices that come from living in a biased world.

We make many decisions on behalf of our users. Let’s make sure they are the right ones.

Designing for no one was originally published in Fortum Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

A team of great designers was working at full speed to deliver best possible product — and we were all tripping over every hurdle along the way: inconsistent use of components or patterns and needless reinventing of existing solutions. Then always came the development issues: without design system I had to work really fast and reconcile with the fact that the end product was almost never what I was planning it to be.

Eight months ago I changed my job and now I am working for Fortum. Lucky for me, this time I am working with a design system called Elemental. And things have changed for me. In a big way.

Design system gave me a head start

I joined Fortum knowing that there is a design system set up and being worked on. It is always stressful to change jobs — you meet new people and learn about your new responsibilities — the amount of new information can make your head spin. One of the things that made transitions so much easier for me, was the design system. When I began my first assignment, I already had the groundwork done — I hit the ground running.

Build on what you are given

Number one fear, when starting to work with a design system is: does this mean I no longer get to be creative? Will my work be just drag and drop ready made elements from now on? Well, yes and no.

Design systems are often compared to Lego blocks — and for a good reason. They are simple elements that fit well together and can be arranged in a multitude of ways: six pieces of Lego can be joined in 915,103,765 ways and the same is with a design system — you will never run out of new possibilities.

When you are given a set of ready components, you can focus on designing the product on the higher level.

The aesthetic choices were made for you so you can focus on a bigger picture but also… on subtle details.

While working with Elemental design system I found it is surprisingly flexible and solutions built from it can vary — just like from Lego blocks. Working with a foundation of a design system allows me to tackle the big picture in a shorter period of time, leaving enough to polish my designs on a level of subtle details, that will aid the users, instead of redrawing the whole page over and over.

Learn from your colleagues

Sharing design system’s library with other designers can be educational on a technical level but it is also a lesson of empathy. I learn to retrace their steps and form my own conclusions. To use properly what has already been designed, I need to have an in-depth understanding of it. Why this component looks like this? How does this tie to other components from the system? I am asking and answering these questions, learning to form arguments for and against in a safe space of my own mind.

I am working together with other designers at Fortum on new additions to Elemental, presenting our work within our small circle. And this is the time, when the skill to defend design decision comes really handy. There are no smoke and mirrors here — presenting work to fellow designers is different than pitching to a client. I am listening and observing how they justify their choices — and learning from them. Work on a design system is a unique opportunity because conversation is about Design, not about conversion or some product-specific tasks. There is no business perspective here.

Not to mention, that working on Elemental brings us closer together, which is a rare opportunity, since we are all usually working on our own separate projects.

Keep improving

Design system is a work never finished. Creating additions to Elemental taught me a lot — first learning about constraints that I have and then to move within them.

Making informed decisions influenced greatly my confidence.

Although I wasn’t there to make all the design choices for all components, I get to learn from them.

Before I began working at Fortum I did have a thought at the back of my head: “Will the design system limit my creativity? Won’t this become boring?” It’s been eight months and it still hasn’t. Our system helped me grow in ways I haven’t expected and proved to be more of an aid rather than an obstacle when designing usable products.

And when it seemed that I could get a little bored with our green theme, we started adding new ones. In the meantime, improved accessibility. And added dark mode. And the fun will never stop! Because a design system is a work never finished :)

*Fortum is a leading clean-energy company developing and offering solutions for our global customers in electricity, heating, cooling, as well as solutions to improve resource efficiency. Digitalization is enabling us to create new customer offerings and improve the productivity of our businesses. See more on www.fortum.com

How I learned to stop worrying and love the Design System was originally published in Fortum Design on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.