Theme Magazine: The Antidote to “Shrink & Pink”

Story by N. Rain Noe
Portrait by Dorothy Hong

In the ’90s, New York City-based product design firm Smart Design knocked one out of the park with their Good Grips line for OXO. Their tenet—then rare, now ubiquitous—of “universal design” lived up to its name; while the Good Grips line of kitchen utensils were designed for comfortable use by arthritics, consumers soon discovered they were more comfortable for everyone. Soon Good Grips were flying off the shelves.

Now, four female industrial designers at Smart—Erica Eden, Agnete Enga, Yvonne Lin, and Gina Reimann—have formed Femme Den, an in-house consultancy that studies women vis-a-vis product design. Their hope is that in designing with qualities and methodologies that appeal to women, they can devise products that are more appealing to everyone, in the manner of universal design.

“Femme Den provides Smart Design with a think tank of knowledge on gender differences and similarities,” says Gina.

“We want to understand how our female perspective as designers can improve the product experience in ways that are inspired by women, but in the end work for everyone,” adds Erica.

Theme: From a product designer’s point of view, what is the difference between men and women?

Gina: There are some straightforward differences in size and strength that require ergonomic considerations, but there are also more subtle emotional and psychological differences.

Agnete: MRI studies show, men and women are wired very differently, affecting not only how we interact with people, but also with products.

Yvonne: For example, men tend to be more interested in a product’s features and details—how much horsepower does it have? How many gigs does it hold? Is it cooler, faster, slicker than the one my friend Bob has? Women tend to look at products more holistically: Will it look good in my home? Can my entire family use it? Does the company support the causes that I believe in?

Erica: We also realize [it’s tricky] to identify gender differences in broad strokes. Extensive research and intuition is needed to understand how men and women approach a product or experience—it is different for every product we design.

Have you found any sweeping gender differences in how a group of women will attack a problem, as opposed to how men would?

Erica: I think it depends on each person.

For example, if you drop ten men off in a forest and they have to find food, they’re gonna find something and kill it. Whereas, ten women in the same situation might do something different.

Erica: [Laughs.] There was study done like that where they dropped a group of boys and a group of girls in a maze and had them try to find their way out. The boys elected a singular leader to follow, while the girls collaborated on how to find a way out. I think men also tend to elect leaders, whereas, with women it’s more collaborative. That’s how we are in our group too; there’s four of us and there’s no leader, and that’s how we want it.

What are some examples of products that are poorly designed for women?

Yvonne: I do a lot of hiking and camping, and I think whoever designs hiking backpacks forgot that women have breasts. The backpack’s chest straps have nowhere to go—they either smush your breasts down uncomfortably, or act like a push-up bra—unnecessary and uncomfortable while hiking! Also, the speculum and the mammogram machine. I think they’re self-explanatory, but Google-image them.

Agnete: The car industry seems to rarely take small women into account; a short woman can have problems reaching the pedals and still being able to see over the steering wheel. Also, if she’s pregnant, airbag inflation can cause deadly injury to the unborn baby, because she has to sit so close to the steering wheel.

If you walk into your average consumer electronics store, that’s another area that is not considering women—most of it is about “bigger and better,” and tons of information. Most women are more interested in how these products fit into her lifestyle and how they can potentially simplify her life, as she has a lot of different responsibilities to juggle.

Erica: I remember when a “new, for women” cell phone model came out, and it was like, lavender. And there was nothing else different about it than the existing, nonpink model. It’s really frustrating; if companies want to reach out to women, they can’t just shrink it and pink it. Companies want to reach out to women, they can’t just shrink it and pink it.

How about the opposite—products that are well designed for women?

Gina: The best-designed products for women are not obviously aimed at women. Like the Apple approach—it’s beautifully designed for everybody, but you feel like it maybe came from the female perspective, even if it’s not that obvious when viewing the final product. It’s kind of the same principles as universal design: by designing for [a larger, unaddressed segment] you can push the boundaries of who it’s for.

Also, women tend to base their impression of the product on more than just the object itself, so even if it is well designed, if the customer services or the branding message are not also consistently satisfying, it will impact her overall product experience. This is why Apple is more successful in this area—the branding experience is well designed from the point of purchase to the genius bar. Services like Amazon also resonate well with women with more lifestyle-based product categories and personalized recommendations.

Agnete: Apple offers a more holistic experience. Their product offering is more lifestyle-based and has more of a sensitivity to them. They also have outstanding customer service, and when you walk into an Apple store you feel welcomed and taken care of—that makes a big difference to women.

Home Depot is also doing a good job with changing their displays and product offerings in their stores to further attract women, as well as offering “Do-It-Herself Workshop.”

Women are well represented in many fields of design, but not industrial design. Why do you think this is?

Yvonne: Roughly 50 percent of industrial design students are female, but in the workforce, only about 20 percent are. We’ve been trying to figure out where they all go.

Agnete: We don’t have any numbers on this, but since an industrial design education opens many different doors, we believe a lot of them go into the more female-centric cosmetics and fashion industry. But many women also go the path of research and strategy, as women are more interested in figuring out how people work, rather than how products work.

Erica: And since women are not always around to provide the balance, we all have to make an effort to find the female perspective in order to capitalize on this market.

Agnete: Our mission is to help companies truly connect with modern-day women. It’s a huge business opportunity if companies can get it right. On a personal level, what are some of your favorite product designs?

Yvonne: I love my Swiffer—it’s much less hassle than my vacuum. It’s much lighter to use (a definite plus for women), and doesn’t make any noise (another plus for me and my cat). I’m super busy and don’t really want to spend my weekends cleaning. If I vacuum at night after I get back from work and the gym, I feel guilty about the vacuum disturbing my neighbors.

Erica: I buy male razors because I feel like the quality is better. I don’t like all the fuss with the pink, “hippy, busty” razors— some of them are ridiculous and don’t make any sense.

Gina: I don’t have any favorites; that’s why I became a designer—I think I could do better! But bananas are a good example of great design. You can tell from its packaging if it’s good or not: it’s ergonomic to hold, easy to open, and completely biodegradable.

What’s next for Femme Den?

Erica: We’ll be speaking at several upcoming conferences, including the IDSA (Industrial Designers Society of America) and CES (Consumer Electronics Show), and doing some workshops too. We’re going to branch out and speak to other designers. Our goal is to expand so it’s not just the four of us who know this stuff— we want it to be a knowledge base. We’re also working on another white paper about our research.

Check out last year’s white paper—there are some surprising statistics on there.

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