The dangers of period-tracking apps with Dr. Maggie Delano

“The important thing for designing inclusively is thinking ahead of time and . . . making sure that you have many options. Because no matter how great you intend to design something, it won’t necessarily work for everyone, but by having more options you increase the inclusivity for everybody.” -Maggie Delano, Swarthmore Assistant Professor

Overview:

In the season finale of Innovation for All, Maggie Delano, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Swarthmore College, breaks down how period-tracking apps exclude people who are not straight, cis-gendered women without medical conditions. She explains how user design could be more inclusive and introduces us to the benefits of Quantified Self.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • The issues surrounding period-tracking apps
  • What the Quantified Self community consists of
  • How period-tracking apps can be more inclusive of people with medical conditions
  • How user research can think about cases that fall outside of the set target audience
  • Ways to increase inclusivity in the on-boarding process of app design
  • Concerns of data privacy in period-tracking apps
  • How self-tracking can be beneficial
  • Ways that self-tracking is happening organically
  • Ideas on tracking “subjective” experiences such as emotion and mood
  • How to leverage user research to avoid stereotypes and generalizations
  • Examples of queer-inclusive business ideas

Links and mentions:

Connect with Maggie:

The hiring process wasn’t built for women. Katharine Zaleski of PowerToFly is changing that.

“When you’re recruiting women, you need to start a dialogue with the group of women you want to bring in and recruit. And it’s a long conversation.” — Katharine Zaleski, President of PowerToFly

How can we build a more inclusive and productive workforce? In this episode of the Innovation For All podcast, Sheana speaks with Katherine Zaleski, one of the founders of Power To Fly. Katherine shares how PowerToFly is completely reinventing the traditional hiring process to companies bring more women into the workplace and become more inclusive.

In this episode you will learn:

  • What is wrong with traditional work?
  • What it the mission of Power To Fly?
  • How is Power to Fly addressing the gender pipeline problem?
  • How can remote work play a key role in hiring women?

Links