Amplifying diversity in design

In my decades as a product designer, there have been multiple occasions in which I’ve discovered a common flaw in the visual recognition capabilities of my teams' early-stage prototypes: a failure to recognize my brown skin. Each time, my team has tackled the problem and made the fix. But I often look to these moments as cautionary tales. What if I, or another designer of color, had not been involved?

The products we use every day can come to define our work and personal lives. I worry that something important is lost when the teams that design those products lack diversity— in every sense of the word.

Since joining the customer data and marketing automation company, Klaviyo, in March as VP for Design, I’ve begun a significant expansion of our design team. We started with 11 designers, are now up to 31, and plan to have a team of 60 by the end of the year. We are building a team of incredible designers who are whip-smart, insatiably curious, and passionate about user experience. We’re looking for people who have distinctive and complementary talents, skills, temperaments, approaches, and perspectives. And because we want to deliver the very best possible products and experiences to our customers (and their customers), we are driven to build a team that is as diverse as possible when it comes to race, ethnicity, and gender.?

As I assemble this “dream team,” diversity is even more top-of-mind for me than ever before. I don’t have all the answers, but in the spirit of furthering this conversation and learning, here are some of my thoughts around why this is important and how we might do better.?

• On empathy: Design is an empathy-driven profession. As designers, we should be putting ourselves in the perspective of our users to create products that work for them. When we build diverse teams, designers discover unarticulated needs and blind spots. Thus, products become more accessible to a larger user base because the team is made up of designers with different lived experiences.
• On the short game: When it comes to diversifying the profession, there’s the short game and there’s the long game. We have to play them in parallel and intentionally embed inclusive practices instead of assuming a "one size fits all." The short game incorporates strategies like re-examining our hiring practices. For example, when we write descriptions of jobs we’re hiring for, or ideal candidates for those jobs, are we unintentionally using language— like "guerilla marketing"— that some may find alienating? To ensure we are not prioritizing speed over intention, many of our roles require a diverse slate of candidates before coming to a decision to ensure we are actively engaging underrepresented talent.
• On the long game: There are many reasons why the field of design is far more white and male than the rest of the population. Most are structural and systemic, which is where the long game comes in. Here, mentorship and sponsorship is key. Personally, I believe that every leader in the design field should be working closely with at least one or two mentees from a population that is underrepresented in the field. This isn’t about taking someone out to lunch a couple of times, but investing in a years-long partnership. Over time, these mentorships will have a substantial collective impact on the composition of our industry.

Within the tech industry, there’s been growing discussion about the importance of diversifying the AI field. When homogeneous teams build AI models— for facial recognition, for example, or to identify promising job applicants— what are the chances that their algorithms will treat everyone fairly?

Those sorts of sensitivities are every bit as applicable to product design. I hope we can conduct and amplify this important conversation within the design field, where diverse teams will be better positioned to create products serving the needs of our wonderfully diverse world.?