Here some insights in detail and entertaining links which refer to main questions and discussion points:
Conference web site: http://www.kvinfo.su.se/femmet09/
The Petticoat 5 - Womens' Computer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qptvCqtMg_o
Genderpoo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qptvCqtMg_o
We presented our project ‘woman’ s phone’ as an exemplary approach how we practice ‘Gender sensitive Design’ research at the Deutsche Telekom Laboratories. We introduced our presentation by bemoaning a common design strategy addressing female customers: We denoted it as ‘shrink it and pink it! strategy’ to disguise and belittle technology on a formal aesthetic level. Aiming at the avoidance of a stereotypical view on women, we used participatory design methods which require an intensive involvement of potential users in the whole process of development. We also used the method of Cultural Probes – very playful tools for self observation and for visual self-expressions – to gather multisensory information as benchmarks for design ideas and concepts. Especially the latter research tool can be regarded as materialized assumptions of the researchers about femininity. In this respect, we addressed and contributed to the core questions of the conference.
We also discussed how to deconstruct stereotypical images of femininity and masculinity by design. In this context and also referring to our critique, the questions arose: Why can’t technological devices be cute?
One of the workshop leader indeed possessed a pink lab top to deconstruct her own gendered personality: She told us that no one who look at her and knows her, would expect her to be ‘pink’ – in her individual case she bought this particular lab top in order to deconstruct her own personality by reconstructing a part of the cultural image of femininity.