The Inclusive Innovation Playbook

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Exploring Diversity

Culture & Ethnicity

Explore unique needs and common solutions influenced by culture and ethnicity

Culture and ethnicity play a significant role in shaping how people engage with technology, as well as their preferences, values, and needs. By considering the cultural and ethnic diversity of users, product innovators can create more meaningful and relevant experiences that reflect the needs and preferences of the people who use them from different backgrounds and communities.

It is import to note that in countries with a majority white population, people of different races can have the same culture, however skin colour can mean that some people face discrimination whether others do not.

People frequently conflate culture, ethnicity and race. These are separate, yet related factors, which impact people differently are defined the

glossary.⁠

Common challenges

When considering culture and ethnicity in the design of digital products and services, it's important to understand the unique challenges and barriers that some users may face.

We all have multiple identities which are all intertwined. Whilst this page focuses on culture and ethnicity, it is important to take an

intersectional approach⁠

and recognise that people can be impacted differently.

For example, two people with the same ethnicity who are different genders, ages, may be impacted in very different ways.

Challenges might include:

Historic bias and discrimination: Racism can play a role in creating challenges for individuals of certain races or from certain cultural or ethnic backgrounds when accessing digital products and services. For example, there may be implicit biases built into algorithms or systems that perpetuate and amplify existing inequalities and marginalised groups can be unfairly impacted.

Different cultural norms and values: Different cultures may have different norms and values which can impact their expectations and needs. This can make it hard to access products and services that are not designed with their needs in mind.

For example, Islamic banking operates under the principles of Shariah law, which prohibits the charging or paying of interest. Instead, Islamic finance uses profit-sharing arrangements, risk-sharing contracts, and other structures that comply with Shariah law., for example around privacy, trust, and security.

Trust, privacy and security: There may be different cultural norms around privacy, trust and security. This could include historical mistrust due to how data has been misused against certain communities and the lack of accountability for the impact.

For example, a digital banking app designed in the West may have difficulty gaining traction in certain cultures where there is a preference for physical banking and distrust of online financial transactions. Additionally, some cultures may have taboos against sharing personal information online, making it challenging for social media platforms to gain popularity in those regions.

Language and accent barriers: People may not be able to fully understand or use a product if it's not available in their native language. Additionally people with strong accents may not be understood by customer support staff or voice recognition systems.

Lack of representation: People of different races and from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds may not feel represented in the products they use if they don't see themselves reflected in the product design, user interfaces, and imagery.

Negative stereotypes: When people commonly see others who share their characteristics, background or heritage villainized or spoken about in negative ways, not only will this likely impact how how they view themselves, but it will affect which products and services they choose to engage with.

Skin colour: Users with darker skin tones can face challenges with products designed for white skin. There are examples of products that simply do not work, because they have only been tested by people with white skin. It is also important to avoid harmful stereotypes and cultural appropriation, as well as considering how different skin tones are represented in images, emojis, and other digital content as well as ensuring an inclusive experience in augmented reality and virtual reality products. In the physical world this also means creating a range of tones for items designed to match skin such as make up, tights, dolls or prosthetic limbs. Skin tone can also affect reactions to sunlight or medication or ability to see symptoms such as reddening of skin.

Facial features: Digital products and services, that use biometric identification and facial recognition technologies can cause discrimination or biased outcomes. Training data often lacks diversity and is heavily skewed with white faces. In areas such as security and law enforcement, where these technologies are often used, algorithms can perform poorly for faces that do not match the homogeneous training data, or racist bias already present in the system can be amplified.

Socioeconomic status: Due to a long history of systemic racism and oppression, there is often a correlation between race and socioeconomic status, meaning that certain racial and ethnic groups may be disproportionately affected by poverty and have limited access to education and healthcare. This can lead to disparities in areas such as health outcomes, employment opportunities, and access to resources, which in turn can impact a person's overall well-being and quality of life. Addressing these disparities is an important aspect of promoting inclusivity and creating a more equitable society.

Technological disparities: Socioeconomic differences can also create technological disparities. Digital products and services may not be accessible or usable by people in certain regions or communities due to a lack of bandwidth, infrastructure or technology. This could also be the case for people living in rural areas, irrespective of socioeconomic status or ethnicity .

Proactive action is needed to ensure that your products and services do not perpetuate racism, discrimination or harmful stereotypes. In addition, products and services that fail to take into account the needs of certain ethnic, cultural or linguistic groups can make it difficult for everyone to access important information and services.

⁠

Feedback please⁠

: Let us know what other challenges people face because of culture and ethnicity.

Serving a global audience

European and North American markets represent a share of only 14% of the total

global population⁠

. Designing for a broader market can present a significant opportunity for businesses to expand their reach and appeal to a global audience. By taking into account the unique needs and perspectives of different cultures and communities, companies can develop products and services that better meet the needs of a wider range of people, leading to increased customer loyalty and growth.

When designing digital products and services for a global audience, it is important to consider localisation in order to provide a seamless and relevant experience for users in different geographies.

Product innovators need to think about locales not just languages. Using Google translate is not enough! There are multiple forms of Spanish used around the world with different local customs and norms.

Here are some key considerations for localisation:

Language: Offer multiple language options to accommodate users who may not be fluent in the dominant language of the region.

Timezone: Allow users to see times in their local timezone. Expecting users to manually convert timezones can cause unnecessary friction and mistakes.

Currency, units of measurement and date/time format: Make sure that the currency, units of measurement, and date/time format are appropriate for the region and consistent with local conventions.

Cultural differences: Be mindful of cultural differences, religion and sensitivities, especially when it comes to images, symbols, colours and messaging. Avoid cultural insensitivity or offense.

For example, in western context red means passion (love, hate), in South Africa death/mourning, in China luck. Black is the color of death in western culture, in some African and Asian cultures, it’s White.

Local laws and regulations: Ensure that the product or service complies with local laws and regulations, such as data privacy laws, advertising regulations, and accessibility requirements.

User testing: Conduct user testing with a diverse group of participants in different regions to identify any localisation challenges and ensure that the product is accessible and relevant to users in different locations.

Continual adaptation: As cultures and laws evolve, it is important to continuously adapt and update digital products and services to meet the changing needs of users in different regions.

Local Laws and Regulations: Ensure that the product or service complies with local laws and regulations, such as data privacy laws, advertising regulations, and accessibility requirements.

Inclusive solutions

Here are a few examples of inclusive solutions you can implement to create solutions that make people of all cultures and ethnicities feel welcome, empowered and safe.

Take an anti-racist stance: Being neutral is not enough. Proactively work against racism and discrimination with clear and explicit communications, challenging your own practice and taking deliberate actions to achieve equality of outcomes. This requires accountability and to be upheld by everyone across the organisation.

Diversify teams and user groups: Make sure to include people from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds in all aspects of product development, including research and testing. If for example, the first version of your product doesn’t work for black hands, you want to know about this before it is launched.

Visual representation: Ensure cultural and ethnic diversity in your imagery and visual assets. This could affect a range of items such as photos, icons, emojis, avatars and profile images.

Be mindful of language: The language you use in your products and communications can have a big impact on inclusivity. Avoid using language that is exclusive, insensitive, or inappropriate for people from different cultures and ethnicities. Carefully consider how you will refer to people from different ethnic groups. Be mindful that the guidance on inclusive language is constantly changing, so it’s important to research best practice, and to maintain a review system to keep this up to date.

Limit tech requirements: Consider the needs of those with infrastructure, bandwidth or technology limitations and and strive to create products that are accessible and usable for everyone.

Mitigate bias: Intentional action is needed to counter bias within your teams, practices and any AI you are utilising. For example this might require expanding your data sets to be more representative, reviewing your processes or training teams on unconscious bias.

Build cultural competency: Develop the understanding your team has on cultural diversity.

Consider unique needs: Take into account the specific needs and preferences of different cultures and ethnicities when developing products and services. This could include factors such as religious observances, dietary restrictions, and cultural norms.

Amplify voices and encourage feedback: Encourage customers and users from minority cultural or ethnic backgrounds to provide feedback on your products and services. Make an effort to listen to and understand their perspectives. This can help you identify areas for improvement and create more inclusive solutions.

Reward contributions: Encourage remuneration in some form in return for people’s emotional labour in sharing their lived experiences. Recognise that sharing and reliving your own struggles, in order to educate others and drive change, is both hard and valuable.

Build partnerships: Collaborate with those from marginalised backgrounds who may already be doing the work or hold key community relationships. Leverage their expertise, insights and connections with appropriate remuneration and recognition.

Build community: Building and maintaining a community of diverse users can help you better understand their needs and preferences, and improve your products and services accordingly.

Celebrate diversity: Celebrate and recognize the diversity within your team, customer base, and the wider community, and create a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion.

Localisation: Provide localised content, language options, and translated interfaces for the regions you serve.

Consider physical differences and appearance: When designing and testing your product consider physical differences such as skin colour, hair type and dress style to ensure an inclusive experience for all.

Facial recognition: Understand the different facial feature variations within different ethnic groups and ensure face recognition tech is tested and validated on a diverse range of faces to ensure your products and services are inclusive of all.

Test with different accents: If your product or service involves interacting with users or voice recognition ensure you test with different accents before launch.

⁠

Feedback please⁠

: Let us know what other inclusive solutions we should include.

Common challenges

Serving a global audience

Inclusive solutions

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