Gender Based Product Design Research: Is There an Indicating Difference in Product Design Made by Male and Female Design Graduates

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It is time to investigate the underexposed aspect of gender in product design. Product design has a large influence on the buying behaviour of people and the impression of products becomes more and more important. On the other hand, the female consumers have major influences in buying decisions. And gender differences do exist as research shows that differences in opinion and experience differ per gender. However, gender should not be seen as men versus women, as different types of masculinity and femininity can be found in both women and men. When focusing on product design, these gender differences were also be found in two dimensional designs made by male and female designers, such as websites and business cards in the research by Gloria Moss. The study in this paper analyses whether those differences in two dimensional design can also be found in the three dimensional designs such as made by master design graduates. Results showed indeed a positive indication.

Stream: Social Policy, Culture and Welfare

Paper: Gender based Product Design Research

The researcher has a background in industrial design engineering and is now working as Assistant Professor at the University of Twente. Her educational course focusses on the experience value of product designs. Her research foccuses on gender and product design. What are the differences and how can they be used in product design.