This document discusses software design considerations for women users. It notes that women now make up over half of church ordinations and university degrees in the UK. It asks how women differ from men and if those differences should impact software design. It discusses challenges like women spending more time on childcare and valuing relationships. It cautions against generalizations but notes research found women more risk-averse. It suggests software communities be inclusive, welcoming, and value collaboration over individual prowess. Open source norms around asking questions and discouraging unpleasant behavior are presented as examples of an inclusive community culture.

1. Software for Women
What do women want?

3. Software for Women
What do women want?

4. Emily Winch
CherSoft Ltd
Software engineer
Woman
Anthropologist

6. Women make up
about half of the
people ordained in
the Church of
England each year

7. In 2006 women
received 57% of all
degrees in the UK

8. "For years, women’s progress has been cast as a
struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end
point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply
better suited to women?"
Hanna Rosin

9. UK Computer science students 2010

10. Questions for us to think about
How are women really different from men?
Are these differences relevant to how we write
software?
Could we or should we be doing things differently?

18. Generalisation alert!
Isn't this all horribly sexist?

20. "in the special case of science
and engineering, there are issues
of intrinsic aptitude, and
particularly of the variability of
aptitude"
Lawrence Summer, then
President of Harvard University

21. "...there can be
injustice in treating
people the same when
in relevant respects
they are different, just
as much as there can
be in treating people
differently when in
relevant respects they
are the same..."
be
Mark Halstead, Education, Justice, and
Cultural Diversity: An Examination of the
Honeyford Affair, 1984-85

22. Productive conversations about
differences
are
inquisitive
open
inclusive

23. Women are less Women, on
strong than men, average, are less
so Beth shouldn't strong than men,
be allowed to join so let's make a
the army. range of
lightweight power
tools.

24. Declawing stereotypes
Some people are Some people are
less strong than less strong than
others, so Beth others, so let's
and Jim should make a range of
pass a strength lightweight power
test before they tools. h
can join the army.

25. 20

26. How might our
female users and
customers be
different from us?

27. Attention

28. "We all know that
knowledge workers
work best by getting
into 'flow', also
known as being 'in
the zone' "
Joel Spolsky

29. Wow, is it really 3am already?

31. Solving problems,
software engineer
style.

34. Software Engineer's Manifesto
We often seem to value...
focus and attention over multitasking and
interruptions

38. Your software is not the centre of
my universe

39. Find and open slide software
Make a blank slide
Find and open browser, search for image
Choose an image
Save As, Make a folder, OK
Switch to slide software
Insert picture, browse to folder, choose image, OK
Insert text
Type quotation
Find and open image editor.
Open image, browse to folder, find the image, OK
Add a semi-transparent white layer to the image
Save
Switch to slide software
Insert image, choose the image from before, OK

40. Usability concepts....

41. Situational awareness
What's the current state of my
training materials
sales pitch
holiday plan?
I don't give two hoots about the state
of
files
documents
software programs
my inbox

45. interoperability

48. interoperability
I want reminders of my appointments in time to drive there.
I want to click on an appointment and select "drive to".
I want to drag the agenda onto the meeting in the calendar.
I want to click on an appointment and call the other invitees.
I want to drag pictures and web pages onto my contacts.
I want to drag a route onto my calendar.
I wan

49. 35

50. Time

52. Women in
households with
children spend on
average an extra
hour a day on
childcare
compared to men

57. Software Engineer's Manifesto
We often seem to value...
focus and attention over multitasking and
interruptions
mastery of arcana over delivering business value

58. "Then, sometime after college, we had our first child. After that,
I found I couldn’t program any more. Seriously. There were just
too many interruptions. As soon as I got back “up to speed”
with the software I was working on and “recovered state”
enough to make the next logical step, I would get another
interruption, and the program would go back on the back
burner. Later, I’d find myself having to puzzle out what I had
written a day, a week, or even a month in the past.
When I finally did get back into programming, it was through [...]
Python. It was amazing. I could get stuff done again. That’s
both because Python code is more compact and because it is
more readable."
Terry Hancock

59. Usability concepts....

60. Ubiquitous direct manipulation

63. 45

64. Gossip, n:
Hearing something you like about
someone you don't.

65. It's not far
from chatter
and gossip
TO TREASON!

66. Gossip
I am thinking of gossip as Gossip is the narrative
data in the great social of a community, its
experiment we call internal mythology, the
"community." stories the community
tells about itself
Ann Burlingham
Darkhawk

68. Learning styles

72. Software Engineer's Manifesto
We often seem to value...
focus and attention over multitasking and
interruptions
mastery of arcana over delivering business value
individual prowess over team working ability

73. Communication styles

74. Geek culture can be...
Aggressive
Competitive
Confident
Direct and straightforward
Interrupting
Using insults as a form of bonding
Taking pride in being unoffendable

75. Other people can be interested in...
Co-operation Helping, mentoring and
teaching
Collaboration
Expressing themselves
Consensus "tactfully"
Other points of view
Aside: Why do so many women dislike this stereotype?

76. Software Engineer's Manifesto
We often seem to value...
focus and attention over multitasking and
interruptions
mastery of arcana over delivering business value
individual prowess over team working ability
direct speech over tact

77. "Women are more likely to place
intrinsic value on activities that
help to build a network of trusted
relationships."
Emily Winch

78. Software communities are valuable to women
Women are valuable to software communities

79. Communities: norms and culture

80. Open source community
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
1. Try to find an answer by searching the archives of the
forum you plan to post to.
2. Try to find an answer by searching the Web.
3. Try to find an answer by reading the manual.
4. Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.
5. Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
6. Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.
7. If you're a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the
source code.

81. Open source community
Describe the symptoms of your problem or bug carefully
and clearly.
Describe the environment in which it occurs. Provide your
vendor's distribution and release level
Describe the research you did to try and understand the
problem before you asked the question.
Describe the diagnostic steps you took to try and pin down
the problem yourself before you asked the question.
Describe any possibly relevant recent changes in your
computer or software configuration.
If at all possible, provide a way to reproduce the problem in
a controlled environment.

85. Dreamwidth developer community
"We welcome people of any gender identity or expression,
race, ethnicity, size, nationality, sexual orientation, ability
level, neurotype, religion, elder status, family structure,
culture, subculture, and political opinion. We welcome
activists, artists, bloggers, crafters, dilettantes, musicians,
..."

88. A culture clash
Pat: "Hi, I’ve installed
your software and I
really like it. I have a Jo: "This is addressed
question, how do I go on page 5 of the
about adjusting the manual."
whatnot?"

89. A culture clash
Pat: "Hi, I’ve installed
your software and I
really like it. I have a Jo: "This is addressed
question, how do I go on page 5 of the
about adjusting the manual."
whatnot?"
Hi, I am too lazy to read Please at least make
the manual or try any of some effort, you idiot,
the menu options; I’d is my time so much
rather waste your less valuable than
time instead yours?

90. A culture clash
Pat: "Hi, I’ve installed
your software and I
really like it. I have a Jo: "This is addressed
question, how do I go on page 5 of the
about adjusting the manual."
whatnot?"
This community seems We are not interested
helpful: I’d like to be a part in having you as part
of it, although I don’t know of our community. Go
much about the software away.
yet.

91. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful

92. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people

93. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people
Encourage them to participate

94. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people
Encourage them to participate
Thank people for their contributions

95. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people
Encourage them to participate
Thank people for their contributions
Allow avatars and personal information in profiles

96. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people
Encourage them to participate
Thank people for their contributions
Allow avatars and personal information in profiles
Actively discourage unpleasant behaviour

97. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people
Encourage them to participate
Thank people for their contributions
Allow avatars and personal information in profiles
Actively discourage unpleasant behaviour
Welcome the asking of "silly" questions

98. Making a forum into a community
Be real, friendly and helpful
Welcome new people
Encourage them to participate
Thank people for their contributions
Allow avatars and personal information in profiles
Actively discourage unpleasant behaviour
Welcome the asking of "silly" questions
Provide "back-channels" for everything off-topic or meta

99. Examples

100. Examples

101. 75

102. In conclusion...

103. Thank you for coming!