An accessibility god calls me a Standardistatrix, and more thoughts on gender differences in web des
Published 18 Aug 2005
I was looking through my server logs yesterday (Yes, I realize I just publicly admitted this… I officially need to get over myself) and I saw a reference from the del.icio.us links of someone named Joe Clark. OK, I said to myself, there are probably hundreds of Joe Clarks online, this can’t possibly be the same guy I was afraid to talk to at SXSW.
I did some more investigation, and found out that not only was the link from that Joe Clark, but he gave me the title of Standardistatrix. That is my new favorite title ever. It will definitely solve my dilemma over the title Webmaster. I think I will see about getting business cards printed up this afternoon.
This leads me (somehow) to put down some thoughts about a recent press release put out by the University of Glamorgan that was broght to my attention by Inguna. The press release summarizes a study done by some of the profs at the university, which found that there were differences in the kinds of web designs that males and females preferred. Sound a bit familiar?
I have since seen a few discussions of the press release, and I find the comments on these discussions fascinating. It seems that everyone is quick to do everything they can to discredit the study. Granted, there was no detail and I would like to see the original paper and go over the methods and statistics with a fine-toothed comb. A press release is by definition a simplification of the issue so that everyone can understand the important points. Just because the press release is bad doesn’t mean the study is bad, however.
What I found more interesting, was the “no duh” response. That is the response I had, because I have spent a lot of time thinking about this issue and examining my own biases, likes and dislikes on the web. But it seems like some of the same kinds of folks who took issue with my articles (1, 2) seem to think it is a no brainer that men and women have different aesthetics when it comes to the web. Why it doesn’t follow in their logic that it would be a good idea to have more women out there judging standards based sites so that the male influence doesn’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy is a mystery to me.
I also found some of the stats, if accurate, to be extremely interesting. They found that 94% of 32 higher education web site showed a masculine design orientation, although the gender ratio of their target audience is about 1:1. This is an important point, folks. And the argument that there just aren’t as many women designing sites as men is borne out in this study as well, with an average of 74% of sites being produced my men or male teams. I just had a thought— how does the lack of connection most girls feel with the aesthetics of the web influence their desire to go into web design?
Well, enough lunchtime thoughts from this Standardistatrix. I will be thinking more about all of this, and trying to get my hands on the original study.
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Commentary
Joe Clark writes
Aug 18 at 02:14 AM #
Get some more of yez together and you get to use the plural: Standardistatrixen!
Andrea writes
Aug 18 at 04:28 AM #
Joe Clark: I love it! That’s reason enough to start us a group!
Elaine Nelson writes
Aug 18 at 06:59 PM #
Andrea: pick me, pick me! ;)
Not that I can actually pronounce Standardistatrixen….
When you get a copy of that report, I’d love to see it. The press release has sparked some interesting conversations in our office, and actually prompted me to tweak a design in progess!
Andrea writes
Aug 22 at 01:36 AM #
Elaine: You’re officially picked!
I emailed the PR department of the U. of Glamorgan about where to find the original study, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. I will pass the info on if they ever let me know. I’m going to try to dig it up in Google Scholar later if I don’t hear anything.
inguna writes
Aug 22 at 07:03 PM #
Wow! Your animals are gone! I miss the Spotted Skunk (he was my favorite) But I understand your need for Change.
As for the masculine or feminine design orientation, in most cases you can guess the gender of the designer pretty accurately. Duh! And yes it does sometimes feel like all-boys club (where men occasionally pat each other on the shoulder saying: “You’re good!” And the other guy says: “No, no you’re good!)
It feels like sort of a CLUB also because many of the blogs look so remarkably similar, like clones with very little personality “shining through”.
What can I say? I’m biased :)
Andrea writes
Aug 22 at 08:22 PM #
Inguna: The animals are still here, but toned down a little. The spotted skunk theme is over here—he and the okapi have always been my favorites. I will be adding more as well. I may have to move their little portraits onto the article pages as well as the home page though—looking at this page I do miss the critters!
I agree with you about the gender issues, too.
Johanka writes
Aug 23 at 07:16 PM #
I’m a female who had a strong “desire to go into web design” once. The reason why I eventually decided against it as a fulltime career option was not a lack of connection, but a simple fact that I felt I’d be forced to sacrifice my other important hobbies, languages and (intellectual) history, and earning a living as a translator seemed a more sensible choice in the end, because here I can use the stronger set of my skills. :-)
Sunshine writes
Sep 1 at 08:31 PM #
oooh I want to be a trixen (for short) I’m liking your site and your content. consider this me introducing myself.
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