I'm not sure why those who design gadgets think that women are not technology addicts. We are!
The first complaint I have is the size and style of most phones. They are designed to fit into a man's breast or coat pocket. How about designing something to fit in a woman's purse along with sharp pointy keys and a lipstick case? And, no I don't want to have to put a protective case around it because that is just one more thing that I will have to try and fit in, especially if it is my evening bag.
While we are on the subject of cases, if I have to carry one, why not make different styles and colors so I can match whatever outfit I have on and for god's sake this does not mean it can only be pink or needs to have cutsie flowers on it! Also, if the back of the phone isn't used for anything, how about making it a mirror? This would also be useful if you are stuck in a spy movie situation and need to assess your surroundings.
Now I don't have children but, if I did, I would want my phone to connect to a baby monitor so that I could check on my little angel(s) from wherever I am. This reminds me of my pet peeve: content feeders. You get stocks, news and sports. Some women do enjoy sports but for a lot of us we would rather have fashion alerts or stories about other successful women. For the life of me I can't figure out how to personalize content so I get this instead of sports.
Then there are regular design gaffs that just make one wonder. Who decided it would be a good idea to put the internet and e-mail buttons at the top of a pda phone so that whenever one tries to pull the phone out of something it connects to the internet or activates e-mail? Before releasing a phone onto the market, companies should give it to live human beings for a month and see how they actually use the thing - we are not lab rats who must be forced to adapt to the controlled environment let alone if one is paying $500 for this controlled environment!
The rest of my complaints are probably standard irrespective of gender. I want my cell phone to replace my laptop not just so I can connect to the internet but so that I can create documents and spreadsheets and presentations. In the near future, there will always be a need for the comfort of the laptop but with the hellacious airport security lines I would love to be able to leave the laptop at home.
My quest continues and hopefully someone somewhere will read this and start listening more to the needs of users other than the western adult business male. Cell phones should be designed to be as diverse as the people who use them.
- Titania Guerrera (August 3, 2008)
