Inclusive Product Management: Navigating Barriers & Embracing Opportunities

This is my paper, "Inclusive Product Management: Navigating Barriers & Embracing Opportunities," written as a special Honors project associated with MKTG 454: Strategic Product Management taught by Professor Jeffrey Shulman at the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. You can read each section as its own article here, here, and here.

The "Too Long; Didn't Read" portion summarizes my learnings and shares some final takeaways from the whole experience.

Considerations of Inclusive Product Management

Inclusion and Inclusive Product Management Defined

According to Atlassian, product management is “an organizational function that guides every step of a product’s lifecycle– from development to positioning and pricing– by focusing on the product and its customers first and foremost.” It lies at the intersection of user experience (UX), technology, and business, and most often guides what the product is and who it is made for. Product managers often consider five things when making decisions regarding a product: customers, competition, company, collaborators, and context. At the center of all five lies room for an important consideration: inclusion. Inclusion has many forms and definitions depending on situational context. For our purposes, we will use Merriam-Webster’s definition of “the act of or practice of including people who have historically been excluded (as because of their race, gender, sexuality, or ability).”

In the product management space, product managers have the say on what business objectives and user problems to focus on. They can then enable the designers, developers, etc. to create the product. Inclusive product management is ensuring that products can be used by any user who wants to use that product, regardless of whether or not they are similar to those on the product development team.

Accessibility, Inclusive Design, & Universal Design

When discussing inclusive product management, we must also consider inclusive product design. Sometimes, the terms “accessibility” and “universal design” are also used, often interchangeably. However, these three concepts are not interchangeable and refer to different forms of inclusion.

Accessibility is the “opportunity to consume content, use things, and participate regardless of disability status,” according to Accessibility.com. Accessibility takes into consideration physical abilities (more relevant for a physical product) and non-physical abilities (more relevant for digital products). Some examples of accessibility can be having wheelchair-accessible entrances to buildings or using high-contrast colors for those with color blindness. Both inclusive and universal design are aimed at improving accessibility, but not all forms of inclusivity are related to accessibility specifically. However, inclusive and universal design are seen as the two most common models for improving accessibility in physical spaces, events, and products, both digital and physical.

Inclusive design is an ongoing process, typically aimed at reducing barriers to engagement. Individuals looking to implement inclusive design into their products should consider the following: identifying points of exclusion, avoiding personal biases, frequently testing products with a diverse user group, and designing with the user in mind. Inclusive design allows for a wide range of users to interact with a product, regardless of ability or background. Some examples of inclusive design include having a third option for individuals wishing to disclose a gender identity that is neither female nor male or allowing having an alternative text description for images used on a website so those using screen readers can understand what the image is of. Inclusive design is typically a solution to a barrier of inclusion and is implemented to reverse said barrier. The term “equity” is also sometimes used to refer to inclusive design principles— inclusive efforts are often targeted at making a system or product more equitable (as opposed to more equal).

Universal design is focused on designing products that work for all without special considerations or solutions. Unlike inclusive design, universally designed products don’t have special accommodations for marginalized groups but instead account for the commonalities that all groups have so that no accommodations need to be made in the first place. Some considerations for those looking to implement universal design include whether or not the product is equitable, flexible, or intuitive to use and whether there is easily perceptible information, low physical effort, and low tolerance for error. The nature of universal design is that it benefits all users, even those who would normally not benefit from inclusive design initiatives. Some examples of universal design include making the font larger on a website so that both those with visual impairments and those without can easily read the text or having wider entryways to a building that can accommodate mobility aids and those without.

The biggest difference between inclusive and universal design is whether or not the product has special accommodations for different groups. If an individual has a visual impairment, inclusive design would be implementing a feature in which users can adjust the font size or colors to accommodate this group; universal design, conversely, would incorporate high contrast colors and larger font sizes from the beginning. Creating a product that can be used by anyone as-is has been universally designed; a product that can be used by anyone because of specific accommodative features has been inclusively designed.

For most product managers, a combination of both universal and inclusive design is most practical, cost-efficient, and effective. For some products, one design principle might be more practical and, therefore, would be used more heavily. However, all product managers should consider how these two forms of inclusion and accessibility can be incorporated into their products and how they can be used to serve more users.

Benefits of Inclusive Product Design

When an organization creates more inclusive products, more users can interact with said products. This ultimately leads to an expanded customer base and can lead to long-term increases in profit. If a product can be made for more than just the original group and adapted so many others can use it, additional markets can be captured beyond the original target market. Imagine a pair of scissors, for example. If a product manager were to identify right-handed men with large hands as the primary target market and the product was designed to those specifications, many groups could find themselves not purchasing or using the product. Women might find the scissors too large for their hands, left-handed individuals would be unable to use them with their non-dominant hands, etc. These would be two large customer markets that would be lost due to a poorly designed product. Therefore, by designing the scissors to accommodate more users, the company can earn additional revenues and maybe even improve its brand image and reputation, while still serving the original target market. When consumers discover their products are inclusive, they will probably form a positive brand association with the company and be more likely to purchase, use, and recommend the product to others (which boosts sales even further).

Similarly, having inclusive products can help reduce legal risk by not excluding users. Ensuring that many users— especially among protected classes like those seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)— can use their products, companies can mitigate the risk of lawsuits and other legal challenges that might arise from discrimination or accessibility laws. While costly litigation and government regulation should not be the only reasons why a company engages in inclusive design practices, it is certainly a motivating factor to consider.

Additionally, inclusive design promotes innovation by the company that not only encourages creative problem-solving amongst designers but also leads to innovation that benefits all users, not just those with specific needs. This ultimately benefits the company’s workforce but also all users of the product. A product that can be used by anyone without adaptation or accommodations will serve a wider population and the company saves time, money, and effort in designing different accommodations for particular groups— it’s in their best interest to develop inclusive innovation. Arguably, society as a whole can benefit from advancements made in inclusive product design and innovative inclusive products.

Barriers to Inclusive Product Management and How to Overcome Them

Lack of Awareness

More than half of the interviewees commented that one of the biggest barriers to creating inclusive products is simply a lack of awareness or education on the subject. For product managers operating within teams that might not be representative of an underserved population, not understanding how to be inclusive or what inclusivity looks like can hinder the development of inclusive products. Alternatively, the team might take into consideration certain types of inclusion but forget about others; not out of ill-will but out of ignorance. Knowing the struggles of users that you identify differently from does not come naturally to many product managers, and taking the initiative to learn more about other possible user pain points when related to accessibility and inclusivity is not always intuitive unless that kind of awareness is given during onboarding, schooling, or other forms of on-the-job training.

Mathangi Ramanathan, a product management executive, said “the primary barrier is even understanding that these [challenges] exist… It comes as an afterthought, not necessarily as part of the planning.” She explained that education and understanding what challenges exist before finding solutions is an important step in having user-focused products.

This lack of education and awareness can be remedied with plenty of user research, user testing, and by proactively seeking materials on different widely accepted inclusivity methods or personal research on common user pain points. Simply prioritizing inclusivity personally and then advocating for it throughout the process can help others become more educated. As the focus on product inclusivity evolves, it’s expected that more awareness of these topics will emerge and so will formal publications, frameworks, and best practices. For now, it’s advised that product managers be proactive about educating themselves on different methods of inclusion and learning more about different groups of users that might benefit from a more cohesive inclusive product development process.

Misconceptions

Other barriers the product managers spoke about were a few common misconceptions regarding inclusivity and what it looks like in product management. For example, Dave Bodmer, a PM with over 20 years of experience in multiple industries, said “if you build a product for everyone, you end up building for no one.” He further explained that “a lot of those regulations and laws are interpreted by a lot of different people in different ways,” and that following these laws too closely without thinking of the practicality of the feature can lead to “building a really terrible product that nobody wants to use.” He went on to say that following ADA guidelines is about building “the best product that you possibly can knowing full well what those [inclusivity measures] are intended to do.” Not understanding the actual user problems associated with the intended “fix” can lead to a useless feature or product that ends up doing more harm than good.

Cindy Joung, a former product inclusion lead at a social media company, said that sometimes inclusivity is often considered synonymous with accessibility and that many product managers regard ADA compliance as the only necessary form of inclusion. However, as previously discussed, there are many forms of product inclusion and accessibility that go beyond ADA requirements and only considering those legally required by law can be problematic for both customers and the business. “We work in conjunction with accessibility experts, we believe in the importance of accessibility, but there’s other… dimensions of identity” to consider, according to Joung. There are detrimental effects to treating inclusion as a checklist item rather than a natural part of the product development process, such as the long-term diminishing of inclusivity’s importance and priority for both the business and the user.

Similarly, Brandon W., a product management leader at a Fortune 100 software company, said a common misconception is that product inclusion can be fixed by being “bucketed” into broader diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. This can be detrimental to the extent of a product’s actual inclusivity as the proposed solutions might not be targeted towards solving user-centric issues and more of the system as a whole. Expecting product inclusivity to improve because the company’s culture embraces inclusion is not solving the problem at its root cause.

Overcoming these misconceptions can be done through education and becoming more aware of the true nature of inclusivity in product management through experiences and engaging with others in the industry. The more widespread the knowledge becomes, the less it becomes a misconception. Advocating against broad attempts at inclusivity on a purely organizational level and implementing inclusivity directly into the product process can help combat these misconceptions as well.

Balancing Business Needs with User Needs

Another common barrier discussed by the product managers was trying to balance business needs with user needs. Despite that, at many companies, the user takes priority in any product process and inclusivity can sometimes be disregarded as a “must-have” and considered a “like to have.” This leads to business needs like lowering costs and reducing time spent developing the product taking a higher priority over inclusion, as it can be costly and requires a lot of additional research, resources, and testing.

However, in certain cases, product inclusion might directly oppose business interests and create a space for tradeoffs to be made, sacrificing one or the other. For example, Fikay A., a product manager for an HR technology company, spoke about how an inclusive measure for a product he works on might look like hiding an individual’s identity to reduce bias in a hiring process— this might oppose business interests as it would be easier for the UI/UX team to design the product one way that has bias concerns for the user. “For the most part [business and user needs] align,” he said, “but sometimes they don’t and you have to just work with that.” Having to advocate for user needs can become a very important aspect of a product manager’s role in the product process if met with pushback from the organization. Fikay A. also said that the best way to push back against executives or stakeholders who are hesitant to embrace inclusivity instead of business needs like profits is to come prepared with numbers to explain the “why” behind the initiatives. He emphasized the importance of prior research and preparation as understanding the root cause of a user problem and having an inclusive way to fix it can be convincing only if supported with evidence from surveys or other research methods. Having difficult but honest conversations about what inclusivity broadly is and why it’s important to customers might also be a solution when working with those who don’t value inclusivity as much as they might other business needs. “Don’t take it personally if they push back,” he added. “Your job is to convince them why it should be a top priority.”

Applying Standardized Frameworks

Another challenge identified by the product managers was difficulty applying standardized frameworks to unstandardized situations. A few product managers pointed out that in the product management field, there aren’t “best practices” or industry standards for inclusivity specifically. This means that they often have to apply standardized frameworks for general product management processes, which does not always effectively provide user-centric solutions to inclusivity challenges. Additionally, Shah B., a product manager at a financial services company, indicated that a misconception is that you can apply a standardized framework to a variety of product types. Not only would the framework not apply to inclusivity objectives but also not apply to different products. Sometimes, as he pointed out, “the medium in which inclusivity needs to happen is different and the amount of value inclusivity can have is also different depending on your product.” Web-based products need different kinds of inclusivity than physical products and at the same time, the consequences of forgoing inclusivity differ for each type. Approaching every inclusive design process with a standardized framework not meant for inclusivity can lead to unintended side effects.

Overcoming this barrier is best done by being flexible and willing to adapt different existing frameworks to accommodate inclusive initiatives. These frameworks are good starting points for any product development process but should be treated as such and not templates to follow.

Inclusive Product Design Best Practices & Suggestions for Early Career Product Managers

Given that there aren’t any standardized frameworks for product inclusion or generally accepted principles, I’ve synthesized advice and pro tips from the product managers I interviewed as a starting point for early career product managers looking to be proactive about inclusive product management.

Building/Joining Diverse Teams

One of the first steps in being more aware and educated on inclusive practices is to build and/or be a part of a diverse team. The more diverse your team is, the more identities, values, and experiences will be represented throughout the product development process. Having a more diverse team will allow for easier incorporation of inclusive design and a wider range of checks and balances for inclusive design initiatives. Having a diverse team to start with will allow for easier solution idea generation as well, as many team members’ creativity can be considered.

Kalyanashis Chakraborty, a product manager with a decade of experience in the SaaS and analytics spaces, said “if you fix the people, processes are automatically going to get fixed,” referencing how starting with promoting inclusivity within a team can have a trickle-down effect on the rest of your product development process.? Likewise, Dave Bodmer shared, “It is really difficult to not hear and think about yourself and your own life experiences when you’re building products,” a concept he calls the “echo chamber.” “The best thing is to have a diverse team,” he said, adding that goes out of his way to seek diverse individuals for his teams, as he’s seen firsthand the effectiveness this has.

We discussed earlier how there can be issues with the assumption that incorporating product inclusivity into general DEI practices can be problematic. While this is true, general DEI practices can have the benefit of creating a more diverse workforce, which helps to combat biases and the common pitfall of product managers designing products for themselves— having more diverse people working together ensures that they won’t be designing for one specific customer, but a target user with a wider range of needs.

Seeking Feedback from Diverse Users

The easiest way to know what problems and needs users have is to simply ask them. At every stage of development, having research or feedback from real users of the product can 1) give direction on what user inclusivity problems to focus on and 2) provide support and justification on why these inclusive initiatives are needed when met with pushback.

Constantly involving users in the product development process minimizes any oversight by the product development team. Understanding real user problems and avoiding the “echo chamber” effect Bodmer spoke of can be imperative to addressing user pain points in inclusivity. Most product managers cited surveys and usability testing as common ways to involve users at different stages of product development and an easy way to identify additional problems users may experience. Fikay A. meets with so many customers in fact, that when I signed up for an interview with him, he had me use his “User Call” Calendly link. He said that understanding what population is served and just chatting with customers can shed a lot of light on the product even without a formal usability test. “Sometimes you don’t know the right question to ask to bring out that special group or to address something,” he noted, “You just have to listen.”

Note that these surveys and testing phases are most effective when presented to a variety of users from different backgrounds and use cases. Similar to assembling a diverse team, seeking frequent feedback from diverse groups of users allows for full coverage and discovery of pain points. There is no point in surveying a group of users that fits the same demographics and experiences as the product team as it perpetuates the earlier-mentioned “echo chamber” effect. Presenting new features or proposing inclusion initiatives to a variety of users who may have different needs allows for a greater chance of discovery and understanding.

Mathangi Ramanathan qualified that user research, surveys, and testing alone are not the most effective ways of concluding user experiences. “Qualitative findings should be validated and supplemented with quantitative data from targeted research methods” that have a more representative sample, she says. These can help connect product inclusion back to the business needs when proposing different inclusion initiatives and provide a deeper understanding of user needs from multiple perspectives.

Engaging with the Product Management Community

One of the ways the product managers suggested other product managers can stay informed and educated on various inclusion topics is through engaging with other product managers in the community, whether that’s through industry discussions, formal research materials, newsletters, or networking opportunities. Since there are no formal guidelines or frameworks for product inclusion, the best way to find a consensus with other product managers is to talk with them. Reading about or discussing recent research or the latest tools— like Pendo.io and Amplitude, two tools recommended to me by Chakraborty— can help keep a product manager up-to-date on various inclusion-based topics. Joung recommended Fable as an accessibility testing tool and that product managers look into the Aspen Institute’s Tech Accountability Coalition. Experiential learning can be key for a product manager, and being able to share or learn about different ways to successfully incorporate inclusion into your product can be beneficial.

Having a Growth Mindset and Openness to Learning

Given the nature of inclusivity and the product management process, it’s imperative for product managers to be very open to learning and receiving feedback. Without this resiliency and growth mindset, product managers might find it difficult to take feedback from users or other stakeholders regarding inclusion improvements and find ways to effectively act on it. Being humble enough to accept feedback that might be scathing, given how personal and vulnerable inclusion can be to people, is an important way for product managers to adapt and improve their products more and more.

Bodmer said that one challenge for his team is that the “bar for what is acceptable keeps rising and changing.” Since it is such an ongoing process, he emphasized the importance of keeping inclusion at the top of his and his team’s minds and building empathy into the process so feedback isn’t taken personally. Baig said the key to continuous learning as a product manager is to receive feedback at every stage of the product’s lifecycle and see everything from an inclusivity lens and mentality. As previously mentioned, Fikay A. likes to have meetings with users where they just describe to them how they use the product and what they like or dislike about it— he emphasized listening to users first is what challenges him to grow more in his role. Brandon W. said that “good PMs need to be insatiably curious.” Continuous learning and growth mindsets might look different for different product managers in different stages of their careers, but overall, the consensus seems to be that it’s important, period.

Implementing Inclusive Design Processes

While product managers might be tempted to create inclusivity-centered OKRs, Chakraborty said that treating inclusivity as a goal can be problematic— he said that it should not be a goal to be inclusive, but a necessity— “[Inclusivity] should be from your design process, not an OKR.” Other product managers agreed that implementing inclusivity into every stage of the product’s development process is the best way to ensure that it is not an afterthought but a priority.

Ramanathan added that having an inclusive discovery process can be the key to getting started in the right direction—?avoiding assumptions, conducting user research with a diverse sample of individuals, and considering demographic factors in addition to the more regularly considered impairments and accessibility factors as well.? “Constantly collect that feedback,” she said. Systematically implementing inclusivity into development and design processes will allow for inclusivity to become a regular practice over a special priority or consideration.

General Advice

The product managers also shared general advice on how to be successful as an aspiring product manager, particularly when considering inclusion. “Always be curious,” Joung advised, “Understand your own bias and break the system down, dig into why it doesn’t work.”

Shah B., while discussing business buy-in to inclusivity called for product managers to not get discouraged if their organization does not prioritize inclusivity. “If you prioritize it for yourself,” he said, “it will be well-received.” He further explained that since ignorance can be a big barrier to inclusivity, advocating for it often leads to others embracing inclusive initiatives, rather than pushing back against it. The organization might not prioritize inclusivity, but if you as the product manager prioritize it, inclusivity will be implemented in the product’s development process no matter what.

Brandon W. explained that “the language of business is human relationships” and that a product manager’s job is “to make people understand.” He said that a product manager often has to translate between technical teams like product engineers, business teams like executives and marketing teams, and also customers/users. Being able to communicate clearly why a certain product is designed a certain way or why a certain decision was made is a part of the product manager’s role in the development process, but the focus should never leave the human-centered intention behind the product. “Be authentic,” he said, “be human.”

TL;DR & Final Thoughts

Summary

• Inclusion encompasses more than just accessibility and goes beyond ADA compliance.?
• The biggest barrier to inclusion in product management is a lack of education or awareness in the field. People lack the experience or knowledge to recognize exclusivity.
• New frameworks that factor in various types of inclusion need to be made. Applying a standardized framework to a non-standardized process can be problematic.
• Engaging with the product management community can be a good source of information to educate, inform, and guide decision-making and processes.
• Having a growth mindset allows for adaptability in a sensitive situation. Being able to take criticism and adapt easily will allow for the product to be as inclusive as possible.?
• Implementing inclusion in every stage of the product lifecycle helps it become a requirement and not just a “good to have.” This can be done by:
• Never forget to explain the “why” behind the inclusive measure or feature. This helps stakeholders understand the root intention of the initiative and the impact it will have.
• If you prioritize inclusion for yourself, it will reflect in your team and the product. Make inclusion the norm and it will always be a priority.

Final Thoughts

“Solve for one, extend to many,” Joung quoted from the Microsoft Inclusive Design site when asked about what inclusion looks like in product management and development. While many in the business world are focused on bringing in products that will ultimately financially benefit the company, product managers focus on creating products that, while focused on solving a particular user’s problems, can be used by many other users who don’t necessarily fit that original target persona. Inclusion in product management isn’t just a checklist of ADA-compliant features or one small aspect of a broader DEI campaign— it’s about creating solutions that empower every individual, regardless of their background or identity, to engage with and benefit from the same product. It’s about developing not just for one, but for many, ensuring that every user feels seen and valued.

Special thanks to Fikay A., Shah B. , Dave Bodmer , Kalyanashis Chakraborty , Cindy Joung , Mathangi Ramanathan , and Brandon W. for their time and invaluable insights.

All individuals named in this article consented to be mentioned and quoted. Some names have been partially hidden to protect the individual's privacy at their request. Any statements made by any individual were made in their personal capacity and not on behalf of their employers or associations. Any mentions of online services or tools are not sponsored and purely recommended by the interviewees. No commission or monetary compensation is being received for mentioning them here.