March 2023 #UnfilteredFriday 2023 | Whiteness in UX
Channel: HmntyCntrd
Date: 07/04/2023

What is the role of "whiteness" in UX? During this webinar, Vivianne Castillo and Alba Villamil unpack how whiteness and racism emerge in our everyday work as researchers and designers. They encourage us to lean into our ethic of curiosity and develop our racial literacy in our work so that we can move towards maturity over relevancy in our practice and organizations.

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SHOWNOTES

(0:00) Vivianne introduces the three questions at the core of the topic at hand.

(1:30) Alba shares impressions on what Whiteness in UX looked like for someone coming from an academic background focused on the sociology of immigration and inequality; discuss how design inclusion and equity were seen as an add-on to basic research and the lack of understanding that when diversity is absent from fundamental UX research, we are designing for Whiteness.

(03:22) Vivianne shares a glimpse into her perspectives coming to UX from a background in trauma-related counseling and HR and the inevitable blind spots in workplace cultures that unconsciously prioritize whiteness.

(5:00) Why is this conversation important? Understanding the dynamics of Whiteness and the inevitable biases built into what has been chronic transgenerational exposure to ethno-centric mono-culturalism (also known as white supremacy).

(7:00) Breaking down frameworks – many of them misunderstood – for working through White Supremacy and the false standards it imposes on things like individualism, professionalism, and our sense of urgency.

(9:41) Why conversations around Whiteness in UX design are critical in creating more human-centric, holistic, deeply integrated practices and perspectives.

(11:48) Three key things to note for companies that claim they want to improve DEI and reduce impacts of race, racism and Whiteness in their practices.

(15:52) Understanding the common default to a “deficiency” model of human behavior that pops up across all kinds of spaces and emphasizes entirely the wrong sources.

(17:49) About trauma-informed practices, implicit biases towards Whiteness and the importance of buffeting the work with protocols and practices that support researchers.

(20:30) Vivianne explains the role of shame and pity in prioritizing Whiteness; how these toxic emotions are not sustainable as motivators for change; why advocating for people cannot and should not cause harm in the process; when stories are misused and replicate miseducation with damaging effects.

(24:55) How does whiteness manifest in UX design and can we bring accountability? Discusses how the centering of Whiteness as a common stumbling block to investment in more human-centric practices, culture and management. 

(28:20) About the use of scarcity in DEI to pit racial groups against one another unnecessarily in pursuit of resources that are often neither finite nor relevant. 

(31:00) How Affirmative Action and DEI decision-making that is shaped by Whiteness pervades organizations and subtly erases the experiences of others.

(33:00) A Call for Action: DEI can’t happen unless there’s an acknowledgment of & education around the racist implications of centering whiteness.

(33:49) Experiencing the Sunken Place: the silencing and erasure that leaves marginalized people unable to advocate for themselves and perpetuates systemic lies.

(36:50) Identity Capitalism: How broken systems perpetuate narrow pathways to visibility and continue to center Whiteness as the standard for every starting point.

(38:15) Further thoughts on capitalism and how it’s interwoven with UX practices, including through workplace cultures that mimic practices encouraged by slave owners on their plantations.

(40:00) What does it look like to address whiteness in workplace cultures and management? Suggestions for promoting communication and learning around biases and false assumptions manifest throughout Whiteness-centered paradigms.

(47:40) In Closing: The opportunity to grow and bloom as UX professionals is there, so long as there is a collective effort to bring intentionality to the work. 

RESOURCES
- Decolonizing Design by Dori Tunstall: https://amzn.to/3GpxrqH
- White Rage by Carol Anderson: https://amzn.to/3Gn0ife
- Race After Technology by Ruha Benjamin: https://amzn.to/40MYynV
- White Out edited by Ashley Doane and Eduardo Bonilla-Silva: https://amzn.to/3KENRxX

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