The Inclusive Innovation Playbook

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The Inclusive Innovation Playbook

Exploring Diversity

Understand how identity, power and systemic discrimination impact people's experiences

Diversity, equity and inclusion definitions

Diversity refers to the variety of differences and similarities among individuals, such as differences in race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, and more. It encompasses the range of human differences, including not just visible differences, but also those that are less apparent, such as cognitive style, personality, and background.

Inclusion, on the other hand, refers to the active, intentional, and ongoing engagement with diversity—in people, cultures, and perspectives—in a way that invites and values the inherent worth and dignity of all individuals. It is about creating a sense of belonging and an environment where everyone can participate and engage to their full potential. Inclusion applies, both to your working environment and also to the experience of your product or service users. Equity, means creating products and services that give people what they need to be successful. This is not the same as equality, which is giving everyone the same. This means not only designing for the average user, but also considering the needs of marginalised groups who may have different needs or face different barriers to access.

Ultimately, the goal of inclusive innovation is to create a more just and equitable society, where everyone has access to the products and services they need to thrive. A one size fits all approach may not work, and you may need to consider what level of personalisation or targeted solutions may be required to meet all needs.

In the context of digital products and services, taking a more inclusive approach to innovation means both building more diverse and inclusive teams, as well as creating more inclusive and equitable products and services in order to satisfy more diverse user needs.

In this playbook we highlight several dimensions of identity and explore a number of different areas in more details, such as:

🏳️‍🌈

Gender and sexuality⁠

🧠

Disability⁠

and

neurodiversity⁠

🌎

Culture & Ethnicity⁠

We do not intend for this to be an exhaustive list. We aim to encourage you to take a broader more inclusive approach, and explore the dimensions of diversity most pertinent for your circumstances.

Identity plays a crucial role in crafting solutions that truly delight customers, yet it is often overlooked or underestimated in the innovation process. Acknowledging and understanding the diverse identities of our customers is key to creating products and experiences that resonate deeply and deliver exceptional value.

The subpages of this section explore unique needs and common solutions across a number of different dimensions of diversity.

Before you dive in it is important to understand a little more about the impact of identity, power and systemic discrimination.

Identity and intersectionality

Designing inclusive digital products and services requires understanding and consideration of a range of different identities. Diversity dimensions do not exist in a silo.

Intersectionality needs to be considered.

Intersectionality refers to the interconnected nature of social identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class. People's identities are complex, and their experiences are shaped by the intersection of multiple dimensions of diversity. For example, a Black woman may experience discrimination that is unique to both her race and gender, and the combination of these two identities can create a particular type of discrimination that neither identity alone can fully explain.

“Intersectionality is basically a lens, a prism, for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other. We tend to talk about race inequality as separate from inequality based on gender, class, sexuality or immigrant status. What’s often missing is how some people are subject to all of these, and the experience is not just the sum of its parts.”

⁠

Kimberle Crenshaw⁠

Designers must take a holistic approach to creating products that are accessible and inclusive to all users, regardless of their individual backgrounds and experiences. When designing inclusive digital products and services, it is important to consider intersectionality and the ways in which different identities intersect and interact with each other.

Diversity dimensions

Here is a non exhaustive list of way in which people may be similar or different to each other. Often products are designed for the dominant majority without real consideration to the myriad of other factors that might influence a users experience of your products and services.

Race* - A social construct that refers to shared physical characteristics, such as skin colour, hair texture, and facial features.

Ethnicity - refers to a group of people who share a common culture, history, language, religion, or other characteristic that sets them apart from other groups. Ethnicity is not based on physical characteristics, but rather on cultural and social factors.

Sex* - broadly speaking, the term sex refers to biological characteristics like hormones, chromosomes, reproductive organs etc. used to categorise people as female, male, and intersex.

Gender - although sometimes used interchangeably with “sex”, the term gender refers to socially constructed roles, behaviours, expressions and identities.

Gender Assignment* - the practice of assigning a legal gender to a person, sometimes also known as sex assignment, typically happening at birth. “Gender reassignment” indicates the legal, medical and administrative process of changing one’s assigned gender to another.

Sexual Orientation* - a person's identity in relation to the gender or genders to which they are attracted.

Age* - A demographic category that refers to a person's chronological age.

Disability* - A physical, mental, or sensory impairment that may impact an individual's ability to participate in certain activities or tasks.

Religion or belief* - A set of beliefs, practices, and rituals that provide meaning and purpose in life.

Socioeconomic Status - A person's relative social and economic position in society, determined by factors such as income, education, and occupation.

Nationality - A person's country of citizenship or birth.

Language - A system of communication used by a specific group of people.

Marital Status & Civil Partnership* - The state of being married, in a civil partnership, single, divorced, widowed, or separated.

Pregnancy or maternity* - The state of being pregnant or having recently given birth.

Parental Status - The state of being a parent, including the number and age of children.

Body Size/Shape - The physical appearance and dimensions of a person's body.

Appearance-related Identities - Identities related to physical appearance, such as hair type and style, skin type, and clothing style.

Chronic Health Condition - A long-term health condition that affects a person's daily life and activities.

Mental Health Status - A person's overall psychological well-being, including aspects such as mood, thinking, behavior, and relationships.

Neurodiversity - A term that recognises and values the diversity of human brains and nervous systems. This includes conditions such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurological differences.

Veterans Status - A person who has served in the military.

Political Beliefs/Affiliation - A person's views on political issues and their affiliation with a particular political group.

Education Level - A person's highest level of education completed, ranging from no formal education to advanced degrees.

Work Status - A person's current status in the workforce, including employment status, job type, and career level.

* These are protected characteristics according to the

2010 UK Equality Act⁠

, which legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society. You should familiarise yourself with the equivalent legislation for your jurisdiction.

There are many other factors not on this list. For example how well do you design for people living in rural areas with limited bandwidth? Or those who are homeless or fleeing from conflict?

In order to create equitable products and services you need to consider how oppression, discrimination and bias might affect people of different identities and how systematic, deep rooted and widespread the issues are. For example, whilst there are some similarities, discrimination against people with

red hair⁠

is different from systemic oppression caused by racism.

Systematically view your design and decisions through the lens of various different identities.

Power and privilege

In order to create truly inclusive products and services, it is essential to understand and acknowledge the role of privilege, power dynamics, and historic inequality and oppression in shaping the experiences and needs of diverse users.

Privilege refers to the unearned advantages and benefits that individuals have based on their social identity, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and ability.

Power dynamics refers to the ways in which social systems and structures distribute power and resources among different groups of people.

Historic inequality refers to the ways in which past discrimination and marginalisation have shaped the experiences and opportunities of different groups of people in the present.

By understanding and acknowledging these factors, organisations can create products and services that are more inclusive and equitable for all users.

This includes, actively seeking out and engaging with diverse communities, understanding the historical context of issues and how it affects the users today, creating solutions that work to dismantle systemic inequalities, and designing products and services that are accessible and inclusive for all users.

Use The Wheel of Power/Privilege to better understand who may lack privilege and explore how you can create equity within your products and services to provide an equal experience.

⁠

Inclusive Innovation Wheel of Power/Privilege by Sylvia Duckworth

⁠

To deepen your understanding of how our identity shapes our experiences of the world you can explore factors such as:

Which characteristics are protected under the 2010 Equality Act in the UK (or equivalent legislation in your region). i.e. age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex & sexual orientation.

What can be hidden and what can not e.g. sexual orientation can be hidden but skin colour can not.

What can be chosen and what is outside of a person’s control. e.g. disability is not a choice but parental status could be.

The intersection of various identities. For example only designing products for white, middle class, straight women fails to recognise the unique needs that other women might have.

The regional context. This wheel of privilege/power was created in Canada. Whilst it is reflective of many other western countries, it does not present a view that is consistent globally, for example where dominant language and skin colour changes.

Systemic Inequality

Taking a step back

Whenever one endeavours to engage in an intentional diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) intervention, before diving into the design and implementation of solutions, a reality check on the underlying realities of our modern economic systems in the West is advisable.

Systems that were created by white men, for white men.

One might even delve deeper and highlight the role of class, sexuality, religion, and a multitude of other dimensions of identity, in the creation of

structures of both privilege and marginalisation⁠

, but that would detract from the simple central premise: that the economy, industries, and businesses are not neutral sites where everyone is the same, receives the same, gets treated the same, and then from time to time require course correction through DEI interventions to bring everything back to zero where everyone is equal again.

Historically, these systems have been structured in a way that predominantly places white men in decision-making roles, while white women have often assumed supporting roles, whether in the home or the workplace. Meanwhile, people of colour have frequently been assigned to non-decision-making positions.

It is important to note, however, that this crude summary does it reflect the intersectional nature of our identities nor the non binary nature of gender. It is also not intended to undermine the incredible achievements and contributions of people from marginalised groups in business and society at large. Countless exceptional individuals, such as Oprah Winfrey, Nelson Mandela, Angela Merkel, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sheryl Sandberg, and Laverne Cox, have made significant strides in their respective fields, challenging the status quo and paving the way for future change.

But therein lies the issue: while not all white men achieve exceptional success, those from marginalised backgrounds often face the added burden of needing to be exceptional in order to succeed.

Reality check

The reality check is not that women or people of colour are doomed to forever be oppressed.

The reality check is also not that men or white people, in general, don’t work hard for their achievements.

The reality check is that people do not participate in industry from a level playing field.

The reality check is that everyone has help to participate in business and society, either as a worker or as a consumer.

Everyone.

Then, when this help rolls up from an individual level to a societal level the nature and extent of said help compounds to produce and reproduce the aforementioned economic structure. If this was not the case, then the Council of the European Union would not have had to adopt the new

Pay Transparency Directive⁠

to address the persistent gender wage gap.

If this was not the case then nearly 30 years after the fall of Apartheid, South Africa would not still need sophisticated Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment legislation to address, among others, white people representing

less than 10% of the economically active population⁠

yet represent

more than 60% of top leadership positions in the private sector⁠

If this was not the case, then Australia would not have had to make recent amendments to its Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 and its Australian Human Rights Commission Act of 1986 by introducing the

Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (‘Respect at Work’) Act in 2022⁠

, as a response to widespread concerns about persistent gender-based inequality and harassment in the workplace.

Being “self-made”

To illustrate this notion that inequality is a systemic issue, consider the actor and former governor of California’s

criticism of the concept of “the self-made man”⁠

"I am not a self-made man. Every time I give a speech at a business conference, or speak to college students, or do a Reddit AMA, someone says it.

It is true that I grew up in Austria without plumbing. It is true that I moved to America alone with just a gym bag. And it is true that I worked as a bricklayer and invested in real estate to become a millionaire before I ever swung the sword in Conan the Barbarian.

But it is not true that I am self-made. Like everyone, to get to where I am, I stood on the shoulders of giants. My life was built on a foundation of parents, coaches, and teachers; of kind souls who lent couches or gym back rooms where I could sleep; of mentors who shared wisdom and advice; of idols who motivated me from the pages of magazines (and, as my life grew, from personal interaction)....”

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Governor isn’t saying it explicitly, but he is alluding to it. Arguably the epitome of privilege, a cishet, white, baby boomer, known for his muscular physique, starring movie roles, and political prominence; and here he is proclaiming the importance of recognising that no one is able to achieve anything alone.

We can unpack this quote even further to see that systems of privilege and marginalisation are not some abstract concept that lives in a dusty textbook – instead it is something that has a material impact on the lives of everyone, every day.

The quote specifically mentions parents, coaches, teachers, and people who showed him kindness and offered him guidance in order to become the success story that people around the world know today. Not everyone had supportive parents. Some may have had parents who could have been supportive but were

too preoccupied with basic safety or necessities⁠

to consider dreams and aspirations.

For most people, all over the world, the quality of your education is determined more by the

circumstances of your birth⁠

, than anything else. Not everyone is given

opportunities⁠

to make mistakes, learn and grow. Not everyone’s

achievements are evaluated⁠

in the same way. Not everyone has

access to mentors⁠

. Not everyone has

visible role models⁠

that look like them.

Enduring inequality

Mike Noon’s metaphor of “

the shackled runner⁠

” offers a powerful analogy to connect the dots among these differences in circumstances, opportunities and representation at a societal level. In the shackled runner metaphor, a runner bound by shackles struggles to compete fairly in a race against an unshackled opponent.

Noon points out that merely removing the shackles does not account for the distance the unshackled runner has already gained, illustrating the reality that addressing surface-level inequalities fail to take into account the enduring impact of historical disadvantages that remain embedded into social structures.

In the education system, for example, disparities in funding and resources between schools in affluent neighbourhoods and those in low-income areas perpetuate cycles of poverty and limit the opportunities available to marginalised students. This can lead to fewer qualified teachers, outdated materials, and insufficient support systems for these students, ultimately resulting in an uneven playing field.

In the workplace, barriers such as unconscious bias in hiring and promotion practices, as well as the lack of representation in leadership positions, can hinder the career advancement of women, people of colour, persons with disability, and many other marginalised groups.

Outside of employment, systemic discrimination can manifest in a variety of ways, including racial profiling, housing discrimination, and disparities in access to quality healthcare, which all compound to exacerbate the barriers faced by marginalised groups.

Tackling Systemic Inequalities

As Nelson Mandela conveys in his autobiography “

Long Walk to Freedom⁠

,”

“I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb”.

This profound quote emphasises the reality that the pursuit of equality for marginalised groups is a continuous journey, and fostering inclusivity should likewise be viewed as an ongoing effort.

Acknowledging that people have no control over the socio-economic circumstances they are born into, the opportunities available to them, or the manner in which they are perceived and evaluated, means designing DEI interventions that do not consider the wider societal systems within which the intervention are to be implemented is not only inadequate but irresponsible.

Effective DEI interventions must account for the complexities of the structural and systemic issues that have shaped the experiences of marginalised groups and strive to create progressive and long-lasting change.

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.”

- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Therefore, the importance of inclusivity in the design and innovation of digital products and services cannot be overstated. When we acknowledge and address systemic inequalities, we enable a diverse array of voices to contribute to the development of these products and services.

This leads to more creative and effective solutions that cater to a broader range of users, ultimately benefiting society as a whole. In the pursuit of inclusive innovation, we must resist the tendency to focus on surface-level inequalities, and rather strive to dismantle the deeply rooted systems that perpetuate these disparities.

In doing so, we can move beyond merely “pulling people out of the river” and instead design products and services that prevent them from falling in in the first place.