Why Diversity in Innovation is Important (Part II)

Several months ago, in Why Diversity in Innovation is Important (Part I), I wrote about the automotive industry and how the lack of diversity in crash testing and automotive safety largely impacts women.?Today, I want to look at automatic devices, such as soap dispensers or paper towel dispensers commonly used in public restrooms.

A few years ago, various videos circulated on the internet showing how people with darker skin tones struggled with getting the soap dispensers to work compared to their colleagues with lighter skin tones. [i]

Why? Because some of these dispensers use near-infrared technology to detect hand motion. The motion sensor is triggered by the light that is reflected from the skin. Darker skin tones absorb more light which results in less light that is reflected.?Thus, increasing the fail-rate of the sensor to detect motion.[ii] In other words, the struggle is real.

While I have no knowledge of the individuals used to test this product, I can confidently say that this problem could have been avoided by increasing the spectrum of skin tones used in testing. ?We must consider, employ, and engage people who do not look, live, or behave the same. ?It is imperative to the evolution of technology that we be more inclusive, not only will it incorporate a wider variety of possibilities in our solutions, it would greatly improve customer experience.

Diversity does matter.

[i] Watch: This soap dispenser won’t work for dark-skinned people. Can tech be (inadvertently) racist?

[ii] Bigotry Encoded: Racial Bias in Technology