Pride by design
As Pride month comes to a close, we will see rainbows leaving shopfronts and social media logos. For those of us who build websites, products and services, it is our responsibility to be inclusive and think about how our design choices affect others every day of the year.
A few reminders to help you make LGBTQ+ inclusive design decisions:
- Avoid gender binary defaults — give your users options beyond just male and female. For example, Hawaii has become the 12th US state to allow a third gender option for state issued IDs. Consider whether you really need to ask about gender at all — if you don’t need it, don’t ask. You can make questions optional, provide “prefer not to say”, or a free text box where people can write in what they prefer to identify as.
- Allow people to use their chosen name that matches their presentation. MasterCard has created an inclusive experience for transgender, non-binary customers to avoid painful checkout and payment situations.
- Some LGBTQ+ users have long or hyphenated names which won’t fit into form fields with low character limits. For example, when applying for a passport, the UK Home Office states that “The personal details section on a passport can only include up to 30 characters (including spaces) for first and middle names, and a further 30 characters for surnames. If an applicant has too many forenames to fit into the passport or their surname is too long, they must be asked to shorten their names in the way they want them to be shown on the passport and then write their full name in the other information section of the application.” If an applicant fails to shorten their name to the guidelines above, their application will be rejected. Learn about personal names around the world and how to design for more flexibility.
- Allow users to choose their own pronouns. Lyft now allows users to choose which pronouns they identify with on their passenger profile.
- Don’t use gender assumptions in avatar or profile settings. Read more about how to design gender-neutral avatars by using identicons, initials or animals.
- Avoid forcing users to choose between Mr and Mrs. United Airlines became the first airline to introduce non-gender specific “Mx” on ticket bookings. In the era of GDPR — think about why you are asking for titles at all. Do you really need it?
- Think about who your users see when they interact with your product. VICE Identity recently released The Gender Spectrum Collection, a stock photo library of transgender and non-binary models. Head of Creative Research, Tristen Norman, shares how Getty Images is working hard to ensure stock images do not reinforce stereotypes by showing “real people and really beautiful work”.
- Don’t rely on stereotypes for representing gender data in charts. Many companies still use pink and blue to visualise gender data. Completely unnecessary.
- Think about the user journeys of your LGBTQ+ customers, which may be different than other users. For example, LGBTQ+ couples frequently have very negative experiences during pregnancy and childbirth because services and language do not consider their needs. Compare this with Booking.com, who worked to create inclusive experiences for LGBTQ+ travellers by identifying safe destinations for out travellers, or allowing users to plan trips around specific events, such as Pride.
By taking the time to consider LGBTQ+ user needs, you can help to make products and services more inclusive. This also extends to your team — is your product, UX or engineering team inclusive and supportive of employees who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or asexual? Their voices are essential to creating diverse product and service experiences. Join the LGBTQ in Technology Slack group or other tech groups for more information and support.
Finally, don’t forget to include LGBTQ+ users in your research and design testing phases. Don’t assume what works for others — put designs in front of your users and get their feedback. You will need to think carefully about this, as some people may be concerned about privacy and why you are singling them out for recruitment. Be open and honest about how important their feedback is to the design and how you want to ensure you are building a product or service that works for them. If your employer has an LGBTQ+ employee network, ask if they can help you with recruitment ideas or provide some initial testing for you as proxy users. You can also reach out to LGBTQ+ charity organisations in your local area to help you find research participants, or review tips from Stonewall Scotland for engaging LGBTQ+ users in your design and testing phases.
What other LGBTQ+ inclusive design tips do you have?
Thank you to my colleagues Gem and Mark for providing feedback on earlier versions of this article.
Alicia is a strategy and innovation consultant in the UK. Follow her on LinkedIn for more stories about customer experience, business design, creativity and innovation, strategic change and inclusive design.
