One Size does not fit all
Sources of Biases that are generally Ignored in UX design
Handedness is the most often ignored diversification. How many times do we consider left-handers in UX design whether it is a mobile app or a desktop app? Desktop browsers have buttons on the top right which is not intuitive for a left-hander.
There are many types of color blindness, with the most common three being protanomaly, or reduced sensitivity to red light, deuteranomaly, or reduced sensitivity to green light, and tritanomaly, or reduced sensitivity to blue light. It all comes down to not seeing color clearly or not being able to differentiate between certain colors.
With that in mind, a rule of thumb for improving UX for color-blind users is to avoid using color as the only visual mean of conveying information.
Basis of non-inclusive UX design in Business
Approach
- Consciously create personas of extreme cases and try to eliminate the ones that are not critical
- All mainstream designs should accommodate as many personas as possible
- Consider diversified user groups and create designs that are physically, cognitively, and emotionally appropriate for diversified people
- Deliberately provide a dark mode to make designs more flexible for situational adjustments
- Create equivalent experiences for as many diversified user groups
- Give special considerations for the needs of disadvantaged user groups
- Watch out for hurtful details and stereotypes
- Accommodate a wide range of literacy and language skills
- Use UX testers who could consciously cover multiple factors defined above
- Focus on creating equivalent experiences than equal experience
Conclusion
Diversity is a great opportunity to design a better digital experience though it is difficult. With the constantly changing social behavior, what is generally accepted today may be perceived as discriminatory tomorrow. With a diverse team, inclusive design, and the right mindset, UX designers can succeed in making the diverse human experience with technology equivalent and fair. Thus, they contribute to making the digital world a little better.
References
Author
