Why you should design for women

A vaginal speculum designed to facilitate a man’s work

It’s no secret that women have been underrepresented in various fields, and product design is no exception. This lack of representation has resulted in products that don’t fill women's needs and have limited women’s opportunities and even their health and safety.

You might have heard of the fact that bulletproof vests are designed to protect male torsos (but not female), noticed that your hand is too small to hold your phone (if you’re a woman), or that speaker voice controls listen better to the man in the family than the woman? That’s because they were designed by men, for men. That even goes for the vaginal speculum, which was developed in the 1800s by a male gynecologist studying enslaved women’s genitals. The design – a metallic «opener» for vaginas – has almost not been modified since. Yes, you heard that right.

In this article, we will outline why including women when designing new products is not only good for women – it’s good for everyone.

1. It’s profitable

Inclusion when designing new products is not a “socially responsible” thing to do” – it makes good business sense. In the case of women, we make up roughly 50% of the global market. So, unless you are designing a product exclusively destined for men, including women, when doing your user insights, market research, and testing, it is definitely a smart thing to do. The more people a product meets the needs of – the bigger the potential market success.

"Women make about 80% of health-related purchases and decisions, according to data from McKinsey."

*https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare/our-insights/unlocking-opportunities-in-womens-healthcare

2. It reduces risk

Unnecessary risk is never desirable in any business. In heavily regulated industries, like the health sector, for example, reducing risk is both complex and crucial since you cannot test a product on people before a clinical study has been done. A clinical study, in its turn, can only be done after the product is basically completely developed due to regulatory limitations. By including as many different user groups as possible during the design and development of a product, you can reduce the risk of failure later. Reduced risk is, of course, also a positive thing to present to potential investors.

3. Women are NOT a niche market

As we mentioned earlier, women and products for women are often seen as a niche market – often with smaller financial potential. Especially in the healthcare sector, where female health is often seen as a subgroup to general health products and health services. Evidently, that is not true. Especially since women make about 80% of health-related purchases and decisions, according to data from McKinsey.

"It’s important to say that you don’t need to be a woman to design for women. The most important thing in all user-centered processes is to look at the experience from the user’s perspective. In this case – a woman’s."

4. It contributes to a safer, healthier society

It seems obvious, but including women in innovation, especially when developing products that are made to be used by women specifically, will make society a friendlier, fairer place to live. Do you remember the speculum made of metal we mentioned initially? That’s a great example of a product whose redesign, with women in mind, can make a big difference. Let’s take a closer look:

The case of Iola Induvita

Due to its high efficacy and low risk, most labour inductions in Norway are done with balloon catheters inserted through the maternal cervix to simulate pressure on the cervix and induce labour. However, the device currently used for this procedure is not designed for its purpose: The catheter is usually a male urinary catheter, and the speculum is the same speculum mentioned above, made of metal and designed to facilitate the work for doctors to examine women’s genitals.

This tremendously adversely affects the birth experience for the woman being subjected to the induction. It is unpleasant and can reduce the body's natural and essential production of oxytocin during labour. This can, in turn, affect the bonding between infant and mother, as well as the breastmilk production and subsequent success of breastfeeding after birth. In short – designing a product with the woman in mind, in this case, has a huge potential for improving one of life’s most significant experiences – giving birth and being born.

Together with the Norwegian startup Induvita, EGGS have had the privilege to work on a new design – the Iola induction kit.

Do you need more reasons to start including women in your product development? Or do you want to learn more and have a chat about the topic or the Iola Induvita project? Get in touch!