“There is nothing wrong with making things people want. It’s just that too little attention is being paid to the things people need.”
Laurie Penny
“Design is key to our collective liberation, but most design processes today reproduce inequalities […]”
Sasha Costanza-Chock
Why does this matter?
Historical Exclusions in Technology
Throughout history, women have been systematically excluded from technical and design work due to male-dominated trades, industrial structures, and cultural assumptions about skill. Feminist research reveals how “women’s exclusion from technology was a consequence of the male domination of skilled trades that developed during the Industrial Revolution.”⁸ This gendered division of labor linked technological expertise to masculinity — a connection that “is still fundamental to the way in which the gender division of labour is being reproduced today.”⁸ As a result, technology was historically built by men for men, embedding systemic patriarchy into the foundations of technological progress.
Intersections of Feminism and Technology
Technofeminism and cyberfeminism serve as key historical touchpoints where feminism has engaged with technology. They showcase the range of approaches — from critical reflection on systemic bias to exploring opportunities for empowerment and participatory design. Their prominence underscores the importance of examining feminist frameworks more deeply when shaping inclusive and equitable design practices.
“Technology is not neutral. We're inside of what we make, and it's inside of us. We're living in a world of connections — and it matters which ones get made and unmade.”
Donna Haraway⁴
Design justice examines how the design of objects and systems shapes the distribution of risks, harms, and benefits among different groups of people.³ It emphasizes intersectionality, highlighting how single-axis frameworks fail to address systemic inequities.
Technofeminism critiques the patriarchal structures embedded in technology and underscores structural bias in design, advocating for critical reflection on who is included and excluded.
Cyberfeminism focuses on the opportunities and optimism presented by digital technologies, emphasizing women’s agency and empowerment through engagement with digital spaces.
Post-3rd wave feminism celebrates fluidity in gender, inclusivity, and the reclamation of identity and media, providing principles that can inform more inclusive UX practices.
Non-Feminist Frameworks in Design
Historically, UX has often prioritized efficiency, profit, or commercialization⁹ over inclusivity, leaving marginalized users overlooked. Examples of this include:
Historical exclusion of women in technology and science,⁸ shaping who designs UX today and perpetuating systemic inequities.
History of UX as male-dominated,⁹ which has larger implications for whose perspectives are centered in design decisions.
“Proper name” policies on platforms like Facebook, relying on traditional Western naming norms, excluding cultural diversity.
Apple Health app lacking menstrual tracking, which ignores needs specific to women and minoritized groups, reflecting gaps in inclusivity.
These patterns show how intersecting forms of oppression “are hard-coded into designed objects and systems…largely through structural forces,”³ underscoring the need for feminist approaches in UX.
What’s been done so far? Introducing Feminist HCI.¹
What comes next?
Feminist UX (n.):
Applies feminist principles directly in the UX process, providing a framework to translate values like inclusivity, reflection, and equity into concrete design decisions.
Challenges gender-blind approaches, highlighting that neutrality often preserves hegemonic norms rather than subverting them.
Centers equity and intersectionality, ensuring design considers how systems and objects distribute risks, harms, and benefits across diverse groups.
Critiques structural bias in technology, drawing attention to how patriarchal systems shape design and access.
Highlights agency and optimism, exploring how digital technologies can empower users and support inclusive participation.
Informs inclusive UX by embracing fluid gender, identity, and cultural diversity, encouraging designs that reflect a broad spectrum of experiences.
Applies feminist principles directly in the UX process, providing a framework to translate values like inclusivity, reflection, and equity into concrete design decisions.
Challenges gender-blind approaches, highlighting that neutrality often preserves hegemonic norms rather than subverting them.
Centers equity and intersectionality, ensuring design considers how systems and objects distribute risks, harms, and benefits across diverse groups.
Critiques structural bias in technology, drawing attention to how patriarchal systems shape design and access.
Highlights agency and optimism, exploring how digital technologies can empower users and support inclusive participation.
Informs inclusive UX by embracing fluid gender, identity, and cultural diversity, encouraging designs that reflect a broad spectrum of experiences.
Integrating Feminist UX: Practice & Maturity
Feminist principles are fundamental, not optional, for achieving the highest levels of UX maturity. Organizations cannot claim truly “user-driven” design if they exclude marginalized users from research and decision-making, overlook intersectional inequities in outcomes, or prioritize efficiency, profit, or superficial usability over care and inclusivity.
Embedding feminist principles influences multiple dimensions of maturity, according to analysis of the UX Maturity Model¹⁰:
Strategy: leadership prioritizes inclusive design and allocates resources for equity-focused UX.
Culture: UX knowledge encompasses awareness of bias, systemic inequity, and inclusive practices.
Process: research and design methods actively surface and address structural inequities.
Outcomes: UX success is measured by accessibility, inclusivity, and equitable impact — not just efficiency or profit.
Looking Forward: Continuing the Conversation
Feminist UX is still emerging, and much work remains to be done. This project proposes a practical way to embed reflection into design processes, but ongoing awareness, research, and action are essential. This field thrives through continual exploration, dialogue, and iteration.
As Costanza-Chock wrote about design justice — adapted here for Feminist UX:
"This is not meant to be the only definition of Feminist UX, but rather a provisional proposal that we can use to build a conversation. There is already a growing community of designers and researchers exploring these ideas, and many have worked to clarify what it might mean in practice."³
“The most radical tool we have is to imagine otherwise.”
bell hooks
Explore the impact of design through a feminist perspective.
Experience