Hello Jackie,
One of the findings of the last research paper mentioned was that the
beauty sites were not a success. "They are both modelled on the male
aesthetic". This suggests that they may not be following an appropriate
methodology that would have lead to a beauty website modelled on a
female aesthetic ie there target audience. It is likely to be the
creative directors of the company commissioning the website who will
approve the aesthetics. Perhaps the demographic characteristics of this
group (and not the design team) is more interesting and could explain
why the beauty sites may have have some male aesthetic qualities despite
being aimed at women.
I wonder whether looking at the demographic characteristics of the
actual web design team has any value for this reason and several others:
- Web designers (ie those responsible for the aesthetics of the site)
usually come from a graphic design background. Their training should
enable them to apply their skills to all types of website and not to
their own tastes. That would include understanding the target audience
and researching what works for that audience.
- The survey uses the terms 'predominantly male' and 'predominantly
female'. I think that this is fairly meaningless. There are teams that
are predominantly male but may have a considerable female input in the
visual design component and vice versa. Also many teams use feedback
from all members of the team. A website designer targeting women would
be getting feedback from female members of team and feeding this into
the design.
- The trend at the moment is to go for simpler and more accessible
designs which means aspects of a website's design that might appeal to
women may not be implemented. For example ommitting gifs used to create
more curved boxes to create a leaner page or using less colours. These
constraints maybe influencing the aesthetic rather than the sex of the
designer, client or target audience.
Ben
Jacqueline Hollowood wrote:
> Hi Ben,
>
> I think now that David has expanded on his point I can see what he was driving at (and I also think it is valid!). The concern was to question what on the face of it appeared to be another over simplification - as with the research that prompted this. The research that you quote is interesting, although this is specifically about Filipino gay men. Also I'm not sure about the homogeniuty of 'gays' and this is commented on within the article: "The gay population is merely a slice of a representative cross-section of the general population. That means they too have varying income, education, and lifestyle preferences." So I'm not sure that anyone one of us can speak for 'our' people - whichever section of the community we come from. It may also be rather limiting to talk of 'sensibilities' as this has often led women to be confined within certain areas, and it would kind of be a shame to consign gay men to the same fate. As for the research that prompted this discussion, mayb
e it just illustrates a lack of user-centred design - with developers
designing for themselves it is not suprising to find an appeal along
gender lines (It would be interesting to know more about the sites
choosen for this study). Whilst the success of the 'beauty' sites may be
indicative of a more serious attempt to understand the user (commerical
driver) and adoption of appropriate methodologies rather than any
supposed 'pink' development.
>
> Jackie
>
>
>
> Jacqueline Hollowood
> Web Designer
> Learning Support Services
> B105, Cripps North
> University of Nottingham
> University Park, NG7 2RD
>
>
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>>>>Ben Parish <[log in to unmask]> 09/08/05 17:14:35 >>>
>
> Hello Jacqueline,
>
> I did not make any of the same implications that you made about David's
> observation. To me it seemed a valid point.
>
> Here is an interesting article I found about how retails targets the gay
> market. I would expect that their market research is quite sophisticated
> because of the commercial stakes:
>
> http://www.inq7.net/nwsbrk/2002/jul/09/nbk_4-1.htm
>
> "Concern about their physical appearance ranges from the purchase of all
> kinds of beauty products usually made for women, to the type of clothes
> they don. Male gays follow the same beauty regimen as women, and use the
> most effective to the most expensive products."
>
> This would suggest that gay men would be more aware of the nuances of
> marketing of these products (valuable in assisting in website design
> process) than the average straight man. It would also imply that more
> gay men would be successful at applying for jobs in this sector than
> straight men and therefore more representative.
>
> On this basis it would be pointless to analyse the male/female statistic
> without considering sexual orientation. If it was not significant it
> would be ignored by the retail sector.
>
> Ben
>
> Jacqueline Hollowood wrote:
>
>>what sort of comment is this? As it seems rather to imply that:
>>
>>1. Males engaged with the beauty industry are gay
>>2. Gay males are psychologically more like women than men
>>3. Gay males gender designation is female
>>
>>I don't see how this adds to the debate about aesthetics and gender difference, and could be taken as rather offensive.
>>
>>Jacqueline Hollowood
>>Web Designer
>>Learning Support Services
>>B105, Cripps North
>>University of Nottingham
>>University Park, NG7 2RD
>>
>>Tel: 0115 9513618
>>E-mail: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>>>>>"David R. Newman" <[log in to unmask]> 09/08/05 14:40:43 >>>
>>
>>Claire Gibbons wrote:
>>
>>
>>>http://www.glam.ac.uk/news/releases/003056.php
>>
>>
>>In the press release we find:
>>
>>
>>
>>>While expectedly 77% of angling websites are designed by men, more
>>>surprisingly 78% of the female orientated beauty websites were also
>>>drawn up by men.
>>
>>
>>I'm not sure exactly how they counted the sex of all the team members
>>designing a web site, but maybe the difference we should be looking at
>>in the beauty products sites is the sexual orientation of the designers
>>(as in the fashion industry).
>>
>
>
--
Ben Parish
Webserver Administrator
IT & Telecommunications Department
University of the Arts, London
65 Davies Street
London W1K 5DA
Tel: 020 7514 6217
Fax: 020 7514 6046
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