A presentation at Tech Nottingham in in Nottingham, UK by Helen Joy
The dangers of digital exclusion
Hi! UX consultant User researcher Speaker Event organiser
“The danger is that you think you are getting a representative view of the world and you are really, really not, and you don’t know it.” – Eli Pariser, Author of The Filter Bubble
“Every decision we make can raise or lower barriers to participation in society. It’s our collective responsibility to lower these barriers though inclusive products, services, environments, and experiences.” – Microsoft Inclusive Design manual
One in 8.2% of UK adults has never used the internet. Office for National Statistics
4.3 million people with zero Basic Digital Skills Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018
76% 20% Retired and over the age of 65 Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018 Aged 45-64 4% Under the age of 45
11.3m adults in the UK do not have all five basic digital skills
Basic Digital Skills measure 1. Managing information 2. Communicating 3. Transacting 4. Problem solving 5. Creating Lloyds Bank UK Consumer Digital Index 2018
Digital privilege
Job role Location Mental health Access to tech Digital privilege Connectivity Attitude Income Confidence Gender Age Disability
Accessibility & inclusivity • The ability to use the internet and online services • The ability to connect to the internet and go online
20% / 3.4m of disabled adults had never used the internet in 2018 Office for National Statistics
Disability as context dependent “Disability is not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.” –World Health Organization Microsoft Inclusive Design manual
The Persona Spectrum Permanent Temporary Situational Permanent Temporary Situational Deaf Ear infection Bartender Non-verbal Laryngitis Heavy accent Hear Touch One arm Arm injury New parent Speak See Blind Microsoft Inclusive Design manual Cataract Distracted driver
“A universal web is designed for all, inclusive of geography, language, and culture. It’s a place that is available for people of all abilities, aptitudes, and attitudes. In short, design has the power to not only remove barriers but also not to create them in the first place.” – A Web for Everyone, Sarah Horton & Whitney Quesenbury
The Persona Network Just as no person exists in isolation, neither Family Microsoft Inclusive Design manual Friends Strangers
Any user may need assisted digital support, if they lack Symbol Printed 9 • trust in your service or the internet GOV.UK identity guidelines December 2013 ALPHA • confidence to use an online service themselves • access to the internet • digital skills • motivation to overcome these barriers on their own GDS Service Manual
One in 10 UK households doesn’t have internet access. Office for National Statistics
2.7 million households Office for National Statistics
How can we be more inclusive?
“We frequently only create idealised personas: attractive people happily interacting with our products and completing tasks.“ – Design for Real life, Eric Meyer & Sara Wachter-Boettcher
User
User
Customer
Visitor
Shopper
This is not a 'user' this is an MOT tester
“Only two industries refer to their customers as ‘users’: computer design and drug dealing.” – Edward Tufte, Statistician and professor at Yale University.
“How do we ensure we use technology ethically, in support of what’s “good,” and minimise harmful outcomes?” – Peter Barr, Managing Partner, Deloitte
How not to regret the things you will build. – Ethical OS Toolkit
Ethical OS Toolkit
Ethical OS Toolkit
“We have to think about the long-term futures that our technologies are helping to create. If we fail to do this, we fail everyone who uses these technologies. And in the worst-case scenarios, we fail democracy and equality at scales never possible before.” – Sam Woolley, Director, Digital Intelligence Lab, Institute for the Future
Thank you :) Questions?
TOOLKITS • Microsoft Inclusive Design manual: https://download.microsoft.com/.../INCLUSIVE_TOOLKIT_MANUAL_FINAL.pdf • Ethical OS: https://ethicalos.org/ BOOKS • A Web for Everyone, Sarah Horton & Whitney Quesenbury • Design for Real life, Eric Meyer & Sara Wachter-Boettcher VIDEO • Beware online “filter bubbles”, TED Talk by Eli Parisor: https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles?language=en REPORTS • Office for National Statistics: Internet users, UK: 2018: https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/itandinternetindustry/bulletins/internetusers/2018 • Lloyds UK Consumer Digital Index 2018: https://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/whats-happening/consumer-digital-index.asp @littlehelli
We made it to the future! As we push further into the 21st century AI, big data, VR and AR are all now a reality. With developers and designers experimenting with this brave new world of connected tech, voice UI, facial recognition and more, we’re living in exciting times. But what about those who lack our digital privilege?
Digital exclusion is a reality for many people in the UK and across the world. But as less visible presences do they make it into our personas and user stories? Or are they left on the sidelines? Is the quest and drive for innovation alienating the very people we should be designing and building for? It’s our responsibility to look out for all our users, not just those who can keep up with us.
Innovation and inclusion are not, and shouldn’t be mutually exclusive. But the caveat of that is that inclusion must be considered from the beginning. So many times we see solution-led design, where ideas are developed without thorough user research that then fail to meet real-world problems. As makers in tech, we have the power to massively hinder or improve lives; not those of ‘users’ but of people. This talk looks at what it means to be digitally excluded and how we can design and build products and services that are not just appealing to us, but life-changing to those who use them.
The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.
The Microsoft Inclusive Design manual is an great introduction to the concept of inclusive design.
A resource to help us "not regret the things we will build".
Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.
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