Womenomics

Women’s buying power is rising around the world as a consequence of better access to education. The strategy and innovation approach developed in the Female Interaction research project responds to the trend of global female empowerment.

It is applying gender know-how to create better user experiences and business perspectives for companies in sectors as diverse as consumer electronics, finance and healthcare.

Research Goals

• Map out gender preferences in relation to technology products.
• Use this research to establish guidelines and methods that will help companies, designers and marketers (a) develop innovative products and services that address women and (b) market them so they appeal to female values and preferences.
• Develop showcases demonstrating how these innovation methods can create more meaningful and attractive offerings for both female and male users and give companies a competitive edge.

Participants

• Initiator and project lead: design-people, Denmark
• Aarhus and Aalborg University researchers with backgrounds in interaction design psychology, pervasive computing and user-centered design
• Market analysis experts and product development experts from three Danish technology companies, Bang & Olufsen, Danfoss and GN Netcom/Jabra
• Advisory board: experts from companies, universities and industry associations, including Fraunhofer Institut, Germany and Internationales Design Zentrum Berlin
• 75 active contributors
• 1500+ women from three continents surveyed on attitudes, views and evaluation of product and user-experience concepts

Time & money

• 3 years (2009–2012)
• 10,000+ hours
• Budget: €1 million
• Financed by participating companies and the Danish Business Authority