Nothing about us without us. What does that mean? Well, in the case of product and service design, it means that designers shouldn’t be designing “for” the most marginalized but instead “with” them. Why do toy designers design “toys for girls” and “toys for boys”? Why are products that address the needs of people with disabilities an exception rather than the rule? Why are the most marginalized people not at the decision-making table when products and services are conceptualized and launched? In this episode, we ask product designers Reginé Gilbert, Jahan Mantin and Vanessa Raponi about what inclusive product, service and program design looks like. Featured guests: Reginé Gilbert is Industry Assistant Professor at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering. She is a user experience designer, educator, and author with over ten years of experience working in technology. She has a strong belief in making the world a more accessible place that starts and ends with the user. Reginé’s areas of research focus are digital accessibility, inclusive design, and immersive experiences. And, she is author of Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind. Jahan Mantin is the co-founder of Project Inkblot, a team of designers and futurists who equip people to become co-designers of an equitable world by creating and leading programs that center Black, Indigenous, and POC designers as well as leading transformative design education programs to equity-aspiring leaders in tech and media spaces. All of Inkblot’s work is in service of activating a movement of people transforming who they are, what they design, and who they design with, through their trademarked proprietary framework – Inkblot Design. Vanessa Raponi is a Senior Product Development Engineer at Spin Master — a Canadian founded, international toy company that created such brands as Paw Patrol and Hatchimals (meaning, she designs and creates toys for a living!). Vanessa is the Founder of EngiQueers Canada, a national non-profit that advocates for intersectional queer inclusion in the engineering profession which has brought her from coast-to-coast to present in panels, sessions, and talks as an expert in Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. Moderator: Sonia Kang is GATE’s new Academic Director and Professor of Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Canada Research Chair in Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and University of Toronto Mississauga’s Special Advisor on Anti-Racism and Equity. Her research explores the challenges and opportunities of diversity, including strategies for mitigating the far-reaching effects of stigma and harnessing the power of diversity for society and organizations alike. Resources: Inclusive Design for a Digital World: Designing with Accessibility in Mind by Reginé Gilbert Gender Analytics: Possibilities conference Gender Analytics is a way to analyze your products, services, processes and policies with a gender lens to uncover hidden opportunities for innovation and improved effectiveness by considering gender, race, Indigeneity, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other identities. Learn more here: https://www.gendereconomy.org/gender-analytics-online/ Want to hear more from the Institute for Gender and the Economy? Check out our signature podcast series, Busted, which busts prominent myths about gender and the economy! Credits: Produced by: Sarah Kaplan Edited by: Ian Gormely