As soon as I found out about the Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2019) conference, and hearing that it was taking place in San Diego, I was excited to attend a one-day workshop on Inclusive Feminist Design.
It was a wonderful experience which I highly recommend. The conference was at one of the most beautiful locations in San Diego, surrounded by bay views of sailboats and paddleboarders, neighboring Sea World. We had the opportunity to discuss feminism and intersectionality in design, research, and technology with insightful researchers from around the country, as well as internationally. We discussed our experiences in academia, as well as in industry to promote a diversity of perspectives and experiences in user centered research and design. We networked over lunch and I had the opportunity to learn from experiences in community based participatory research and perspectives of inclusion for disability and LGBT voices in design.
Throughout the day, we discussed the past, present and future of inclusive feminist design, beginning with sharing our experiences and perspectives of the topic. We discussed current projects and initiatives in inclusive design, as well as brainstormed on building inclusive spaces. Then we discussed the future of what we see and envision for feminist and intersectional inclusion in design.
In the afternoon, we worked on a couple of projects, and I was in a team that worked on a group project, a zine for fostering feminist inclusion in academia. This inspired me to work on an additional zine on a Feminist Guide to Self-Care in Academia (image above).
The conference was an excellent opportunity to meet other individuals working in the field of interactive systems design and research, and to connect on experiences, perspectives, and ideas to continue to cultivate intersectional inclusion in technology and interactive systems. I am grateful for the organizers of this workshop and for this experience to discuss inclusion, intersectionality, and feminist perspectives in interactive design.
