Paving the way for women at the forefront of product design

Tackling gender imbalance and bringing more women to the forefront of innovation and product design is a key focus of a pioneering new team.

XXEquals is the UK’s first female-led product design initiative, developing projects for women across the consumer, industrial and medical markets.

Launched by Bristol-based agency Kinneir Dufort (KD), the team seeks to break new ground in the product design industry and hopes to pave the way for young women interested in careers in product and industrial design.

CEO Merle Hall says there is not only a moral impetus to push for change but also a strong business case for it.

The company says women buy approximately 85 per cent of household products, yet only five per cent of the product and industrial design industry is female.

https://twitter.com/XXEquals/status/1377224478862815241

“We are incredibly proud to be the first UK consultancy in the product design industry with an arm which pro-actively focuses on products and experiences for women,” says Merle.

“It feels like there is truly a need to bring more women to the forefront of innovation and product design

“XXEquals offers female-focused insight and an empathic design approach, resulting in innately intuitive products. We need to develop a deeper consideration of the physiological or psychological differences for female users.

“As an agency with a strong purpose – to design a better world – we feel it is our responsibility to instigate change. We are proof that a better gender balance is possible in the product design industry and we would love to support other businesses driving equality where possible.

“We’re not where we want to be yet, representative of the world around us, but we’re focused on our goals. It’s important to us to remember that men always need to be part of the solution too, so we draw on the brilliant expertise of our male strategists, researchers, designers, engineers and makers, who are well versed in allyship and also very engaged in the initiative”.

Comprising a multi-disciplinary collective of KD experts – 75 per cent of whom are women – XXEquals is pushing for better gender balance across product development, in a move which is set to potentially benefit millions of female consumers worldwide and KD’s global blue chip clients.

The team is already working on projects including smart femcare solutions, sustainable period products, voice recognition software and futures research.

Commenting on the growth of the femtech market, Merle adds: “Without expert female representation throughout the innovation and development process now, more opportunities will be missed to leverage real life experience and create brands and products which close the gap between assumption and reality.

“XXEquals launches as we are seeing women being adversely affected by Covid, and shortly after the issuing of a Government call-out for views to inform the new Women’s Health Strategy for England, which aims to change the male-by-default approach to health and care system.”

KD also partnerships with organisations such as Kerning the Gap, a campaign to encourage more women into leadership roles in the industry, as part of work to address the design industry’s gender balance issue.

Craig Wightman says design teams should reflect their audience – photo by Sarah Hall

KD’s CDO, Craig Wightman says: “As a man working in design, I have, for too long, felt uncomfortable about the number of situations I’ve observed or been directly involved with, where products used by women are conceptualised, designed and developed by men.

“That is not to say that male designers cannot design well for women, but why would you not want to have your audience and users better reflected in your design and decision-making team? It just makes sense.”

Main photo courtesy of Kinneir Dufort 

Read more: Championing women in design