Practical tips for creating equitable designs
By: Lydia Hooper
Tags: Social Justice, Design, UX, Data Visualization, Ethics

If you are someone who totally understands why we need to shift our practice, but you are stuck on how exactly we do this, this article is for you. I have outlined the following tips under categories ranked from most important to least. I have also offered some examples so you have a better idea of what it can look like.

Like all of us, I am still learning, and especially because I am a white person I am committed to doing so publicly in order to demonstrate how important this learning is. I think it’s too easy for those of us who identify with dominant cultures to think it’s not “our” business to discuss these topics, but nothing could be farther from the truth. Inequity is a problem that exists because of dominance — as a white person, I remain committed to fully engaging in and even initiating these conversations, however imperfectly. I fully admit that I don’t know everything when it comes to this topic and I seek to share what I have learned as someone who has been deeply committed to equity over the long term. I invite you to leave comments with your own questions and experiences.

Focus on the process

Listen to feedback from people who are often oppressed and excluded.

Listening to this feedback requires both asking for it and also then being willing to do things differently because of what you heard. This won’t be easy if you pride yourself on being an expert, as you may have to acknowledge how much you really have to learn.

If you think this sounds simple enough, ask yourself how many projects you’ve worked on where this was included as a critical part of the process. For me, it’s been too few. What this has often meant is that the decision-makers don’t get this feedback until after production is complete, and this creates a lose-lose situation: There may be harm caused to people (this harm is often repetitive and therefore re-traumatizing), and decision-makers don’t have the opportunity to make changes that would reduce such harm before potential criticism reaches a higher volume (this embarrassment can lead to the project being subsequently hidden and essentially moot).

This is why this is the single most important tip here, one that essentially can eliminate all those that follow. There are more tips about asking for and receiving feedback in another article I’ve written here.

Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

Collaborate with difference.

Naturally, a prerequisite for this is appreciating difference and understanding that the goal is not to have one standard set of rules for anything, including how to best design or visualize data! Our diversity is our strength in every way, and this can be applied to our everyday professional work too.

Recognize your own individual social locations, and then identify what locations are different from yours. Now this is important for it will feel so incredibly uncomfortable: reach outside of spaces in which you know you belong to connect with people who are different. (Also, remember that our intersections are so complex that chances are that no matter how different someone may appear to be, you have something in common with them.)

If you are someone with a location that is dominant in our culture (white, male, cisgendered, able bodied, middle to upper class, etc.), please be mindful of the power dynamics in your collaborations and of the share of the load and of the recognition that’s being carried by various involved parties. Please don’t ask people who are oppressed to educate you about oppression, to listen to or care for your complicated feelings, or to engage in vulnerable conversations with you — allow them to do these things only if they want and choose to.

Lastly, consider that there are varying degrees of “collaboration,” from informing to consulting to involving to empowering, and significant shifts happen the more we move from the former to the latter.

Give credit where it’s due.

Whether people are offering you their thoughts on your design drafts, contributing data sets, helping craft language, or something else, this is part of the labor that goes into the work, so it needs to be named.

In my opinion, data stories especially are always the result of many hands, so they are less private property and more public domain. Ask yourself how this perspective might change your relationship to them and their expression.

One more thing on process: Shifting culture is a long game, period. So give yourself credit for being willing to jump into the messiness of it all and to change your own behaviors without any guarantees of success.

Mind the story

Always consider who might be harmed by the story being told.

The stories we tell, including and perhaps especially data stories, can affect a person’s safety, privacy, livelihood, health, and relationships. For example, one of my colleagues was working with data about employee demographics and attitudes, and because most employees were white and straight they had to be careful about how they talked about the data so that those who were BIPOC and/or LGBTQIA+ wouldn’t be targeted for expressing their contrary opinions in an apparently-anonymous survey.

We may not always be able to see the harm, which is why the aforementioned practices are so critical. A few common examples I have found in my work are:

Discussion of changing demographics with an implication that it’s a change to be concerned about. For example, the fact that this study looked at attitudes about increasing diversity I think says a lot. Discussion of systemic harms in a way that makes it seem like they are individual failures. Two common examples are gang violence and rates of type 2 diabetes. Discussion of policies or practices that disproportionately affect or impact certain populations without mentioning that that is the case. Yes, it’s harmful to not name harms, which I’ll discuss further shortly. COVID-19 rates are a very timely example of this.

Often what is needed to minimize harm is more than data, which never speaks for itself. By offering plenty of contexts, including by using qualitative data if at all possible, we can help audiences build a clearer understanding. Furthermore, sometimes including alternative or conflicting viewpoints helps audiences get that it’s a complex issue with multiple narratives.

For example, one project I worked on was helping people understand data related to LGBQ youth and substance use. My client responsibly included both language and data to explain that these youth experienced worse outcomes because of a variety of factors including less access to resources, lack of protective factors like a sense of belonging at school and trusting relationships, and struggles with mental health.

Use direct, plain language and avoid words that judge, minimize, misrepresent, are insensitive to, and exclude differences.

This includes being multilingual if appropriate. At the very least, don’t use jargon if you can avoid it (here’s a helpful tool).

Another common and very regrettable error I’ve seen in my work is people avoiding or “sugar coating” words instead of directly mentioning race, systemic racism, systemic oppression, white supremacy culture, etc.

For example, the dashboard shown here talks about social determinants of health (SDOH), but there is no mention of racism. This not only keeps people from understanding fully SDOH and how systemic racism shows up in people’s daily lives but consequently this lack of understanding doesn’t move people toward the development of solutions that address racism directly. (Side note: it’s very telling to me that the term SDOH has existed since 2005, if not before, and yet it’s taken until just last week for the AMA to acknowledge racism as a SDOH.)

Words like “underrepresented,” “underserved,” “marginalized,” “minority,” and “non-white” are deficit-based and belittling, and words/phrases like “Blacks” and “Hispanics,” “Latinx,” and even “People of Color” can be too reductive. The word “diverse” is often entirely misused: it means there’s a wide range of differences and should not be used to refer to people who are different from what might be considered “normal” or dominant.

As of this writing, the preference of the communities referenced is either “BIPOC” (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) or the actual names of the nationalities, ethnicities, or other specific identities that the referenced people themselves claim (each of these should be capitalized too).

Also, let’s use them/they instead of he/him or she/her whenever possible. It’s easy, not confusing, and inclusive of the many gender identities people claim. Pay attention when referencing people with disabilities too.

The power of language is so easily underestimated, and, as any good editor or writer will tell you, having a variety of readers throughout the iterative process is invaluable. It all comes back to the process!

Include clear calls to action that lead to a positive impact.

This is another seemingly simple practice that is often overlooked or side-stepped. Including these calls creates many wins, though: Audiences are left not merely able to know better but also to do better, their actions contribute to real tangible change, and the creators of the work know they didn’t merely add to the noise we are all overwhelmed by, they took a stand and sent a powerful signal. Again, let’s use our power as designers and data storytellers consciously!

Don’t forget design details

Consider visual hierarchy: Are certain stories and experiences being more emphasized?

I recently noticed a social media post about health equity leaders who’d received an award — a large photo of a white woman recipient was at the top and smaller photos of three women of color were side-by-side underneath (shown at left).

One project I played a part in included a visual hierarchy of users, and I found it troubling that the wealthy white man persona was positioned at the top.

Chances are that in both of these cases the creators’ implicit biases influenced them, but these sorts of subtle design decisions reinforce existing messages, however unconscious they may be.

When it comes to ordering labels in legends, the same rules apply. Start with the people most relevant or impacted rather than dominant groups.

Use colors appropriate for color blindness as well as race and culture.

There are many free online tools (some examples are here and here) that can help you check whether the colors you are using are accessible for those with visual impairments, but there are surprisingly fewer resources that address the racial implications of color. If there is a racial component to the data (and there very often is), I suggest using a palette with blues and/or secondary colors (oranges, purples, and greens) and avoiding colors associated with skin tones as well as reds which generally connote danger.

Conscientious use of color helps reduce the likelihood that audiences’ own implicit biases will affect how they connect with and understand the data. So, please avoid “standard” patterns like pinks for women and blues for men too.

Also be aware of the cultural implications of colors, especially if audiences are multicultural. For example, in Chinese culture red signifies fortune, but in the Middle East it connotes evil and danger.

Think about the accessibility of your design for people with varying physical and mental abilities.

Are people with low vision or dyslexia able to use assistive technology like text-to-speech software, for example? Be sure to use graphics and illustrations in ways that help anyone focus and avoid distracting or moving content if possible.

Use images very intentionally

Use photos or drawings of people to help audiences connect with lived experiences and avoid any imagery that enforces stereotypes.

Hint: run-of-the-mill stock images might not cut it. You might have to look further and farther (or better yet, hire/pay a photographer or illustrator who is BIPOC) to find imagery that speaks to the experiences at hand and, importantly, in a way that does not reinforce power dynamics. One organization I worked for included images of Black people only on the marketing materials that targeted low-income families — this is a major no-no.

The key thing is to make a point to use this imagery along with any data visualizations as it can help emphasize the people behind the numbers. One report I helped design neglected to do this, and I was left feeling that for all the thorough research and focus on precise language, the overarching messages about inequities fell a bit flat because the report seemed to be more about percents than about real life people.

I know as professionals we tend to be big-time thinkers, but if we look at our own lives I think we can admit that our hearts generally change before our minds do. So we culture shifters need to consider how we can use design to appeal to people’s values and needs, especially those related to connection, cooperation, community, kindness, fairness, and integrity.

Photo by Gemma Chua-Tran on Unsplash

Use visuals that are inclusive and non-binary.

If you use any imagery, photos or icons for general purposes be sure they represent a diversity of races, genders, generations, abilities, family compositions, etc. to make sure every viewer feels included.

I think the best icons for gender-neutral people are limited to head and shoulder outlines in an appropriate solid color.

Do not use symbols or styles from, or otherwise reference, cultures without deeply understanding them.

This is known as cultural appropriation, the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of aesthetics of oppressed people by dominant groups.

A client I once worked with preferred using their brand colors that connected to their cultural identity, which I happily obliged, but if they had been wanting to reference another culture’s colors, I’d have had a conversation with them about ethics (yes, I do that with my clients).

If you ever aren’t completely sure and want to know if you’re out of line, you will need to, circling back to item number one, ask for feedback.

Focusing on process makes it easier to mind the story, double check the details, and ensure images intentionally include. If you want to dive deeper, I highly recommend the resources created by the people mentioned in this related article.

If, like me, you are a designer who wants to live in a more equitable, fair and just society, then making sure your creations are helping everyone envision and create this society is as important as any other design decisions you make.

All earnings paid to the author for this article will be donated to Data for Black Lives.