Battling Bias in Design

Data science, machine learning and analytics are changing the world - and the world of design won’t be immune to this transformation. Big data and tools such as machine learning can provide the types of insights that user researchers and interaction designers have always dreamed of.

This data-driven approach allows designers to better target areas for further investigation and uncover what drives underlying behaviours, ultimately designing better products and services.

80% of consumer purchasing power is women, 28% of people in the US are in the non white minority and 60% of the world is from Asia. Everyone in the world is different, but traditionally when we design our unconscious bias steps in and we ignore signs to design for different people. The more we understand our unconscious mind, the more it starts to impact the way we think and create. What does this mean for creating global experiences where different mindsets are required to align to our design? The R/GA design model helps us to get behind the context, environment & mindset of our users in order to create conscious ecosystems. Harvard has created an implicit association test to measure attitudes and beliefs - the important thing is how we get these into our design process so we can shape our work without our unconscious bias taking over. Diverse design teams mean we create well rounded experiences. Projects like ‘Love has no Labels’ showcase the humanity in design and what it means to design with a conscience. Let’s make sure that what we are creating is genuinely impactful to all our audience and that we consciously think about the hundreds of decisions we make day to day.