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How South Korea faced its mask shortage

The COVID-19 disease has caused serious problems since it arose in China in December 2019. It has been spreading globally to over 200 countries and is threatening people’s health and the medical systems around the world (WHO,2020). As the number of cases continues to increase, the WHO (World Health Organization) declared COVID-19 a pandemic and announced some guidelines (WHO, 2020). The measures are being taken to overcome this situation depending on the countries. Using face masks is one of them in South Korea. The Korean government recommends the public to use face masks to prevent infection and protect others in the case of asymptomatic persons. This strategy made people buy more masks than usual and caused a new problem: The shortage of face masks. People lined up in front of the pharmacy, the most commonplace to buy masks in Korea, and even the workers in industrial and medical sectors faced the shortages. This crisis led to changes in social and economic areas in South Korea. This paper analyzes the situation and discusses options from the design perspective.

 

Corona in South Korea

South Korea is located near China and one of the countries infected greatly earlier than European countries. In late February and early March, it started spreading fast by cult people who visited Wuhan in China, the epicenter of the outbreak. They gathered together to attend worship, which caused a number of infections that exploded into thousands. However, South Korea reacted to this crisis with a smart, aggressive public health system (Cottlieb, 2020) and the amount of newly infected victims decreased.

Background culture about Mask in Korea

So, why has a shortage happened in South Korea? The cause lies in the increasing demand. Before discussing the reasons in more detail, we need to look at the background of the Korean situation. Because of air pollution (micro dust), it is very usual for non-medical people to use face masks in the street, and masks have become a part of fashion – we can often see Korean celebrities wearing them. Therefore, unlike European countries, using a mask was already ordinary and ubiquitous before the coronavirus broke out in other countries. This is why Koreans easily accepted the government’s recommendation (Wong, 2020). Moreover, the government’s initial response was ambiguous, because the coronavirus was new and unpredictable. There was not enough data about the benefits of face masks against viruses and instructions for using masks differed several times. In this confusing situation, the public chose to wear masks as a symbol (Kang M, 2020). This made a social norm, and people who don’t wear masks are criticized and considered as a person without responsibility for themselves and for communities. This atmosphere encourages more people to wear masks and acts as a behavioral nudge to remind the importance of personal hygiene (Wong, 2020).

Why has it happened?

First of all, there lies a shortage of raw materials. Masks are produced with simple processes. Only simple labor is needed such as attaching a filter, attaching non-woven fabrics, folding. The supply of raw materials is directly related to production capacity. The main material of the mask is Melt Blown (MB) filters and the problem was that Korean mask production companies used MB filters which were imported from China – about 30% in total (Kim, 2020). Because of the spreading of the virus in China, supply was stopped as the Chinese government prohibited the export of the filters. Although domestic filter companies increased production, the quantity of domestic production was not enough to meet the needs. Korean government started to support filter manufacturers to expand facilities, however, it had been already a month since the mask problem was issued.

Secondly, mask profiteers appeared. As mask demand continued to grow, some people tried to make a profit by hoarding masks. Some distribution companies proposed an unfair transaction to production companies, stocked up masks and sold them at a much higher price. Not only distribution companies, but also individuals used this strategy to feed their greed and avoid taxes. Because of those, who consider this crisis as an immoral opportunity, a large number of the mask,s which were provided to the public disappeared. This caused confusion over the fair supply of masks.

For these reasons, supply was unstable, despite demand increased rapidly. It was harder to get a mask and the queue in front of the pharmacies grew longer and longer. Immoral sellers raised their prices to exorbitant costs. People became angry about this situation. It was also stressful to pharmacist. Some people committed physical violence and insults against them, expressing their anger. Something had to be done to overcome this crisis.

How South Korea solved these problems

On 5th March, the government decided to directly intervene in the production and distribution process of the supply of face masks. The government takes care of 80 percent of the national face mask production every day. Out of these, 2 million are distributed first to medical institutions and the rest of them are sold to the public at a relatively low price of 1,500 WON each (about CHF 1.19) via public retailers such as pharmacies, post offices, etc(Kim, 2020). Moreover, a 5-day rotation system has been implemented, which allows people to buy two masks per week on specific days, depending on their year of birth. For example, people who were born in 1998 and 1995 have to buy masks on different day and ID cards must be shown. With this system, inventory status services are offered to the public via mapping apps, enabling people to check real-time numbers of purchasable masks in pharmacies. In the meantime, to reduce hoarding, the government catch mask profiteers,  imposes a fine, and support the production of raw materials for masks.

Besides the government policies, individual and organizational contributions have also occurred. People donated face masks to those in need such as the elderly and organizations started some campaigns to share masks and offered a kit to make DIY masks. Companies also took action. Samsung, the biggest brand in South Korea, has supported mask manufacturers by dispatching experts and setting up equipment to increase production capability (Song,2020). Some companies came up with new ideas and developed new business. A company, named Desizon, designed cases to enable the mask to reuse, keeping them clean (Kim, 2020). Moreover, a upcycle total fashion company ‘Beltaco’ plans to work with Daegu Metropolitan City to develop a method of making masks with microfiber, which is often used for blankets, and provide them to the public (Na, 2020). Besides them, some companies provide face masks at a lower price than before, causing a stable supply.

What could be suggested?

Overall, South Korea is said to be one of the countries that flatten the curve of new infections and contain the spread of coronavirus successfully. Several things had to be done in order to create such a situation. From analyzing foreign mediums, fast implementation, extensive testing, tracing, isolation, and surveillance were helpful to beat the disease (Fisher, & Choe, 2020). In this shortage crisis, the government fast intervention seems to be proper for a stable supply of masks. Along with other policies and the participation of citizens, it could prevent the worst.

However, there are still some points to improve. First of all, as the government managed masks publicly, mask manufacturers suffered from overtime and loss of profits to produce masks at lower prices. Secondly, the several changes in the guidelines for masks from the government caused social confusion. Furthermore, the government’s policies are effective, though, they still have low accessibility to the elderly and disable people who are restricted from free moving to buy masks. Even if they line up in front of a pharmacy, they risk being exposed to the virus. Last but not least, the environmental side also should be considered. Increasing number of using disposable masks has led to a lot of waste. Harmful substances are generated when they are incinerated.

My suggestion for future actions in Korea would be to control who uses masks and buys masks better. Masks should be controllable, especially when exposed to the public in a disaster situation because it directly affects people’s lives. And above all, it should be accessible for everyone, including the medical staff. It is vital to especially focus on the elderly and the disabled when it comes to accessibility of face masks. If a new system is designed to deliver supplies more safely with high accessibility, we will be able to react more wisely when disasters strikes again. One other solution would be to focus on improving the design of face masks in terms of durability and sustainability. One would not need to buy so many new masks, the general mask used in Korea is disposable. The situation would improve if the masks were designed to last for a week and were able to be washed after that so it could be used again and it goes into a life cycle process. If this were to be implemented, it would solve a lot of problems with the lack of this product and also improve its position within sustainability matters. These suggestions are possible only when the government actively supports the mask industry. The government could encourage manufacturers to develop their production and collaborate experts from various fields with benefits. Moreover, workers’ rights and a sufficient supply of raw materials should be guaranteed.

Individual right and freedom is also important and should be guaranteed. So we should have a balance between individual freedom and national intervention, which are both valuable. This crisis showed the weakness of Korean mask production and the system, whilst it showed room for further development. It is time to change the perception of the mask and move forward.

 

 

 

 

 

sources:

Wong, T. (2020). Coronavirus: Why some countries wear face masks and others don’t. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-52015486

Kang, M. (2020). What are the thoughts of experts on the “Mask War”? Retrieved from: https://www.the-pr.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=44405

Kim, W. (2020).  Three causes about mask crisis, mentioned by CEO of a mask production company. Retrieved from: http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/society/society_general/931379.html

Naver, (2020). 5-day rotation system. Retrieved from:

https://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=5926931&cid=43667&categoryId

N,d. (2020). The facts that you should know about 5-day rotation system. Retrieved from:

https://www.bbc.com/korean/features-51797501

Lee, D. (2020). Why people stick to mask? Retrieved from:

https://www.pressian.com/pages/articles/281395?no=281395&ref=kko

Kim, E. (2020). How South Korea Solved Its Face Mask Shortage. Retrieved from:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/opinion/covid-face-mask-shortage.html?searchResultPosition=2

Fisher, M & Choe, S. (2020). How South Korea Flattened the Curve. Retrieved from:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/world/asia/coronavirus-south-korea-flatten-curve.html?searchResultPosition=4

Kim, J. (2020) “Government, please stop…” Mask operators ‘Scream’. Retrieved from:

https://www.msn.com/ko-kr/news/national/%EC%A0%95%EB%B6%80-%EA%B0%91%EC%A7%88-%EC%A0%9C%EB%B0%9C-%EB%A9%88%EC%B6%B0%EC%A3%BC%EC%84%B8%EC%9A%94%E2%80%A6%EB%A7%88%EC%8A%A4%ED%81%AC-%EC%82%AC%EC%97%85%EC%9E%90%EB%93%A4-%EB%B9%84%EB%AA%85/ar-BB10QSsi

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How Not To Go Insane During Quarantine

What the health!? The magnitude of the impact the coronavirus currently has on our lives exceeded what most of us would have imagined just one month ago. The people who are healthy and not in the risk group may only have realized the seriousness of the situation when increasing number of businesses and schools were forced to shut down. Unless you know someone who belongs to the risk group or have health problems yourself, the situation may still feel a bit surreal.

It has been four weeks now since Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts closed its doors. The first week was announced as a semester break so the school could figure out how to proceed with remote learning. In the second week the studies already continued via Zoom meetings.

As it is now a completely different lifestyle, it is important to adapt in order to stay healthy. This article gives input on how to design your day in quarantine to stay healthy as a design management student.

Structure

Before the quarantine, the class schedule forced you into a clear structure during the week. You woke up early and had to go to bed at a reasonable time. Depending on the duration of your commute this resulted in very limited free time.

As we are no longer allowed to go to school, this strict schedule disappeared overnight. Suddenly, we have so much more time on our hands. We can plan every day to our convenience, apart from scheduled zoom meetings. As long as there is a working internet connection you can attend class from anywhere in the world, even Mexico.

It now requires discipline to create your own schedule. And it is important for your health to do so.

It helps to plan your days in advance. It does not have to entain every minute but a general idea of what needs to be done and at what time. Creating routines such as a morning and evening routine help keeping your days structured. To start your day, it might be a good idea to do the same routine you did when leaving for school, including dressing to leave the house. This will help get you into a state of productivity when required. Although, you may shift your daily rhythm to your liking. As a night owl myself, I am now finally able to adjust my schedule completely to my preferences. Furthermore, eat healthy and regularly. Plan breaks for meals instead of eating all throughout the day, unless you want to gain weight, obviously. Also, create a habit of exercising because during quarantine you will be much less active in general.

It may be a challenge to differentiate study time with leisure time when studying from home. In order to avoid getting stressed out or overworking yourself, set clear work time and time off. During time off, relax and do not think about your pending tasks.

Physical Health

It is well known now that you should stay at home. When before you at least walked to school and back, now you don’t have to move at all if you don’t feel like it. This means that it is especially important to get moving.

Physical activity is directly linked to your physical but also mental well-being. Immediately after even a moderate physical activity, adults can benefit from reduced short-term feelings of anxiety. When exercising on a regular basis, you will reduce your risk of depression and anxiety and you will sleep better (CDC, 2020).

At the very least, go for a 30-minute fast-paced walk every day. Paul T. Williams, a statistician at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, published a study about the importance of walking fast versus slow. You can read about it on the New York Times blog:

Just make sure to be aware of the health recommendations regarding the coronavirus and keep some distance between yourself and other people.

If you feel like doing more, especially if you were more active before, I suggest you look up a home workout according to your goals on the internet. If your goal is building muscle and increasing overall strength, I recommend you this full-body bodyweight program:

Jeff Cavaliere is a pro athlete trainer and physical therapist and owner of Athlean-X. His youtube channel offers countless valuable videos on strength training, nutrition, stretching and much more.

As we now spend a lot of time sitting to attend online class and work on assignments, it is very important to create an ergonomic workspace. To sit on the couch attending a Zoom meeting can be relaxing and is not wrong. But when you spend several hours on the computer, it is necessary to keep your health in mind. Especially your back will thank you for not sitting in a crouched position for a prolonged time. Additionally, sitting straight and ergonomically can help your workflow. If you suffer from back pain or want to prevent it, I suggest to you these three small exercises which you can do every day:

Check out the youtube channel of pain-specialist Roland Liebscher-Bracht for more quality videos about pain.

You are what you eat. Eating healthy should be the norm for you regardless of quarantine or not. Bad food decreases your wellbeing, physically and mentally. Eating lots of vegetables and fruit in a balanced diet will make you feel better.

One of the most important aspects of health in general is sleep. In terms of quality as well as quantity. If you create an individually structured day as advised above, it should be no problem to plan at least 7.5 to 9 hours of sleep per night. With the quantity locked down, it is now about quality. There are a few things that can help you increase the quality of your nights rest. Firstly, regularity. Try to go to sleep and wake up at around the same time every night, weekend or not. Your body will recognize and appreciate the pattern, and you will feel more rested. Secondly, create an evening routine which you repeat everyday before going to bed. This will let your body and mind know that you are about to go to sleep and helps them shut down. And thirdly, reduce screen time before bed. Avoid using your phone or computer at least half an hour before bed, the earlier the better. Instead, you could read a book or write something.

Mental Health

Having this much time at home at your disposal, all of a sudden, means that you will need to find ways to pass it. Ideally, you already have hobbies you can practice at home. If not, this might be the time to start. I will give a few recommendations which will support you to stay grounded during these tumultuous times.

I want to start off with creativity. Creativity is an expression of yourself and helps you keep connected to and discover yourself. We are studying design management, which means we already practice creativity at school in some way. If you don’t already have a creative hobby, start one. Create some art, design something or cook a new (healthy, mind you) meal. Learn an instrument or how to sing. Pick up knitting. Start your youtube channel. There are endless opportunities. And the restriction of staying at home might even make you more creative in finding a way to express it.

The circumstances around COVID-19 are obviously harming many people in different ways. But it is also an ideal opportunity to practice gratitude. Take time to appreciate all the things you did that were normal to you and are now not possible anymore. Be grateful for everything going for you. It’s more than enough. Look into yourself and reflect on your life. Did you live your life consciously or do you feel like you were breezing through life? Find the right place in your mind where you are happy and grateful. Try mindfulness meditation if you have not yet.

Maybe having this much alone time is not easy for you and you cope with excessive consumption of unhealthy food, media, alcohol, cigarettes or other drugs. Avoid this and instead create a healthy lifestyle with the tips from this blog post. Taking breaks from reading and watching the news may help, if they create fear and stress in you.

Eventually, I want to address our social life. In the media Social Distancing is being promoted. I think that is worded poorly and should be called Physical Distancing. We are social animals and if we distance ourselves from others, it has a negative effect on our mental and ultimately physical health. Keep in contact with the people in your circle. The possibilities are there, we are connected to most people around the globe. Don’t isolate yourself socially, but physically.

 

 

Sources:
CDC (Centers for Disease Control), (2020). Benefits of Physical Activity. Retrieved from: https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/pa-health/index.htm accessed 10.04.2020

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What regular home office workers don’t tell you

What regular home office workers don’t tell you.

Regardless if you are used to working from home regularly or every now and then, due to the current COVID-19 situation, many of us had to quickly switch in desks for the dining table and a swirl chair for the sofa. For some it has been easy to set up a home office in a free room, but some are still struggling to find out how their laptop cable can reach the plug without rearranging the whole bedroom. Based on regular home office workers, I have collected together the most valuable tips on what is most important when designing your home office, regardless of your situation. Moreover, you will learn how to manage yourself in this new working environment, to be motivated and to work productively.

It’s all about the set up

This depends entirely on your personality and what space you have available. Most important is to have a space in which you can set up a desk and chair, where you can install your laptop and equipment without having to put it away every couple of hours. Basically, you should create a clear demarcation between your study/work area and the family’s living space. Ideally, you should have your own study, which you can lock up if necessary. This way you prevent your children or other people from entering the room and possibly disorganising and at the same time, allows you to work undisturbed. Nevertheless, it is most important that your space should really have an office character. It should be a place where you can focus on your work and implement projects. And even if it is just a large desk in the living room – an area where you can store all your important utensils and have them at hand immediately. Having your own office or a well thought-out work corner really makes a great difference and is the first step towards more productivity and organisation.

Wire management goes a long way

Tumbling and frustrating over tangled cables and wires happens quickly, but can be prevented easily.  Basic cable management can make a significant contribution to improving your office aesthetics and is quite cost effective as well – you only need to manage a few brackets and cable ties to tangle up any annoying cable clutter. Ideally, arrange yourself with your company about which equipment you must pay for and which they provide. This often are technical equipment such as laptop, printer, external hard drive, various software products, shredders, etc.

Let there be light

The lighting conditions in the office also play an important role. The right lightning provides perfect illumination of the workplace. Make sure that the artificial light on the screen does not dazzle. If this is the case, you either have to move the lamp or rearrange your desk slightly. Pendant lamps are highly recommended, which illuminate the entire room. If possible, you should make use of daylight. At best, place your desk at a 90-degree angle to the window, so that the light comes in from the right or left. Under no circumstances should you place your desk with your back to the window, as the light on causes display reflection, unless you want to leave the blinds on all day, which probably won’t be the case. It is also possible to set up the desk so that you can look outside while you work. Since the desk is probably much lower than the window, you can look outside from time to time, which also relaxes the eyes.

Eat your greens? See them!

Make your office space come alive by adding some greens next to your desk.  Plants will not only add a touch of color to your office space, but will also increase happiness and relieve stress. In fact, it might also remind you to water them every once in a while and that maybe you too, must refill your glass of water every now and then again to stay hydrated and concentrated. Furthermore, even a few plants can increase productivity. Instead of just picking all green plants, chose a plant which is easy to maintain and helps to improve the air quality. The spider plant, dracaena, ficus are beautiful and particularly well known for their air filtering qualities. To find out more, read my latest blog post on plants that are foolproof and have amazing benefits for your well-being.

 

Fix the attitude

As previously mentioned, the brain tends to allocate rooms with specific tasks. The same way your brain tends to differ its mood depending on your presentation. The idea of working in your PJs sounds great on paper. In reality, this will negatively affect productivity. Think about how you automatically feel like working out when you are in your gym gear, or how you feel tired when you take off your make-up after a long day. Make the effort to brush your hair and teeth, get out of your PJs and wash your face. These are the small routines and habits that make a huge different with your attitude towards your productivity and motivation to working from home.

Manage time before it manages you

As different as we humans are, as different is our way of working. One gets up early in the morning and ploughs through until the afternoon. The other starts his working day around noon and stays in the office until 9 pm. To be able to work productively, you should plan your working hours accordingly.
Despite irregular working hours, make sure to have a certain routine. Plan during which times you have calls and deadlines and then build the rest of the working hours based on when you are most productive and have no other chores. If you first have to discover the perfect time management for yourself, I recommend you to set and try out different schedules. Are you late risers and only get really productive in the afternoon? Then there is nothing to be said against starting your working day at noon. It’s better that way than getting out of bed early in the morning and not getting anything done. You can also set fixed schedules for various tasks. For example, two hours per day for editing e-mails, five hours for blog posts, one hour for taking pictures – depending on what’s on the agenda! It is most important that you are available for your co-workers, boss and customers. Be sure to define fixed working hours. Make sure that within those time you are not getting disturbed. Let friends and family leave a message on the answering machine and call back later. It makes sense to make an appointment with them in advance so that you can schedule accordingly. Everything that you don’t manage to do until you are personally determined to end and the rest of the work will be done first thing the next day.

Separation preparation

Two reasons why you should buy separate computers for work and personal use: You can claim your work computer as a business expense in your taxes and you can customise the work computers and eliminate annoying applications and software. There is hard work to be done if you use the same computer tables for creating tables as you do to play video games or watch Netflix. If your company doesn’t provide you with a separate computer, be sure to a create a new log in just for work. This way you can also save all data and passwords work-related on a different user

Give yourself a break

Regular breaks are very important. Here it helps to stretch your legs a little, maybe make yourself a coffee in the kitchen or get some movement going by stepping out into the fresh air. If you live alone, make sure to use the breaks to socialise with co-workers, family or friends. If managing breaks is difficult for you, try out the Pomodoro technique, it is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It helps to work break your workday into 25-minute chunks separated by five-minute breaks. These intervals are referred to as pomodoros. After four pomodoros, you take a longer break of about 15 to 20 minutes.

Organisational satisfaction

Use lists! Use them to make sure you don’t forget anything. There are many great apps which help to plan and structure your chores and working goals. You should have daily to-do lists but also weekly ones for the long term things. Set yourself goals and write them down. It helps to have a good overview and to be able to see at a glance what’s next. On the other hand, there is nothing like having a good old note block on which the daily business is written. Besides, it’s just a good feeling to be able to “cross out” work that has been done.
If setting goals make it seem hard to reach, try to set several smaller goals, which also leads to a regular sense of achievement. Even a large project can be divided into small stages. This way, you develop even more motivation on the way to the big picture and can already enjoy small professional successes in between. But even here, everyone has to find the ideal way to reach a planned goal. The only important thing is that you don’t give up shortly before and prove to yourself that you can achieve something. Motivation and perseverance are two essential aspects if you want to work organised at home. Everything else comes with time and is a nice “learning by doing”.

Now you can do it too

Regardless if you always had an office room in your flat or if your laptop took over the kitchen table. No matter how long this COVID-19 crisis will go on for, you are now ready for designing and managing your home into the ideal office space. Any how, this crisis will for sure change company’s views on remote working, giving you the opportunity to further create and better your newly designed space.

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Discover how you can incorporate life-centered design into your values and what this has to do with mandarins.

The human-centered design methodology encourages designers to develop an empathetic understanding of people’s needs to design relevant solutions. But what is with the needs of our planet? How can we include every organism and life in designing our world?

The range of life

Human-centered design is tackling the importance of fully engaging with the needs of people as the experiencer. However, we are currently faced with the challenge as well as the opportunity to preserve the living on this planet. This complexity needs a new approach to tackle today’s wicked problems.

The focus on one user must change. After all, the idea of a human-centered design seems egocentric and one-sided in its purpose around people. Life-centered design means contributing to all living organisms in a way that not only does no harm but actively helps to survive and thrive.

This thought is inspired by author John Thackara, according to which one does not develop for the life of an individual, but the whole life of every organism and our planet. Everything is interconnected, people are not separate from the planet we all live on, including the major climate systems. Because everything affects everything else in one way or another, which is why there needs to be a shift towards a culture where designers address people as part of the ecosystem rather than the center of everything.

The full picture in mind

Today, we live in an era in which products and systems can communicate with each other, solve problems independently and learn from collected data and its errors. Life-centered design is part of an ecosystem of things. It raises the question of how we can enable our products and services to sustain themselves and help us make better decisions.

After all, design can no longer revolve solely around the product or service to be produced. Nor can it be specifically about the user experience. Design must now evolve to include systems of scale, and we must begin to design the business models of products and services to incorporate environmental impacts and economic externalities such as ecosystem degradation.

Unfortunately, many products are made for single use only and are therefore the very opposite of life-centered design. As an example, a great fitness device that can be used for a variety of exercises could not be included in the product range of a sports shop because the equipment rarely breaks down and therefore does not need to be repaired or replaced. In this case, the retailer could sell the product only once per customer. Instead of celebrating this type of product because of its great design, which combines durability and versatility, it is rejected for reasons of profitability.

This shows that our current economic model is designed for consumption. Companies are encouraged to produce as many versions of a product as cheaply and as often as possible. It requires a change in thinking and the intention to design something that gets by with as little waste and disorder as possible.

“If only nature would find a way to cover these mandarins so we didn’t need to waste so much plastic on them.”
– Tweet by Nathalie Gordon 

In grocery stores we find a similar phenomenon. Just recently a Twitter-Post went viral because a customer uploaded a picture from a famous food-supplier, showing a pre-peeled mandarin in a plastic packaging. An alarming indicator that our society has become too convenient as mandarins are already in the packaging, namely the most perfect packaging in the world – their skin.

Instead of an additive approach, life-centered design explores how it can design as good as nature to create products and services that complement the ecosystem in which we live, rather than harming the environment.

We as consumers should rethink what we buy and consume, but a large part of it is also on the shoulders of organizations. However, the will to change for the better must be there and organizations must recognize the opportunities for a business that works with the environment in mind.

On the example of LOOP™

Nine brands of the consumer goods company Unilever have introduced reusable packaging solutions. They are being tested on LOOP™, a global waste-free purchasing system launched a year ago. The system unites major brands and retailers with the idea of moving from a disposable model, where packaging is thrown away or recycled after use, to a circular model, where packaging is reused, and all product waste is either recycled or used in a new product cycle.

Tackling the sweet spot

If you are now wondering where to start developing life-centered goods, familiarize yourself with the innovation triangle, which can be ideally integrated into your strategy.

Similar to human-centered design, the innovation triangle can also be applied to life-centered design. In this context, we simply need to redefine what we mean by this. It is about how the ideal intersection of desirability, feasibility and viability changes and how organizations respond to it. Design must be extremely sensitive to trends in ecosystems and how they affect the triangle. This in mind, the following features are essential.

Desirability

Desirability tests whether your innovation addresses the right customer problem and accurately represents what the customer needs.

Feasibility

The second part of the triangle, feasibility, assesses whether your innovation will enhance your business and build on the strengths of your current operational capabilities.

To return to the example above, Unilever is addressing the issue of feasibility with its system LOOP™ by introducing reusable, refillable packaging to help reduce waste.

Viability

Viability tests your value chain for a long-term sustainable business model. Viable means that everything is highly desirable and feasible, but also whether you can actually make money from it.

Unilever is investing in new business models around refillable products and services that are economically viable. According to their research, they have found out that 30% of consumers buy brands because of their social and environmental impact and more than 50% are more likely to buy products that are produced sustainably.

Checklist: 6 points to consider

Take note of the following points to integrate a life-centered design approach in your organization.

1. Redefinition

Redefine the desirability, feasibility and viability of your work and consider how your offer can be made regenerative through design. Use design as a central tool to focus on transformation and the purpose of innovation.

2. Circulation

Explore new ways to create sustainable, resilient and long-lasting values. The processes of creation and disassembly of your product’s next life affects the environment and must be considered as part of the design.

3. Simplicity

The key is often simplicity. By making things durable, by keeping it minimal and without clutter, unobtrusive and pure in its intention, design can act intelligently within an existing ecosystem. Consumers should be able to use a simple return service to put as many used products as possible back into circulation. After all, if this is simple, consumer behavior can be changed permanently.

4. Collaboration

New business models must be designed to achieve the necessary changes on a large scale. Collaborate with partners to gain new insights into product development and the use and disposal of packaging.

5. Transparency

Offer customers insights and incentives about your products. Make clear that you consider natural, political and social ecosystems as equal. Show that life-centered design is your new standard, not just a project.

6. Improvement

Iteration is your friend when you integrate the innovation triangle into your process. Due to a constant gain in knowledge, many needs and expectations only become apparent in the course of development, whereby the product life cycle needs to be constantly optimized.

The foundation of a lived culture 

Although life-centered design is seen as another trend of today, it is in fact a solution for current needs. Compared to the human-centered design approach, which has been a mantra for the entire industry, life-centered design represents a significant development.

Life-centered design helps to promote a way of thinking that considers not only the end user, but all users and parties involved in production, use and disposal. To incorporate life-centered design into your values, your organization needs to look beyond the direct or indirect effects of their design activities on us humans and work out solutions with the ulterior motive on the overall system to which we humans belong.

Through continuous improvement, by responsibly shaping not only the life of a product, but also its reorientation or disposal, we come closer to designing solutions that truly work for life and not ultimately against life. Solutions that are invaluable to people, that give businesses a competitive edge and are renewable for our world.

For this reason, update your design skills with system thinking. Collaborate with others and actively design in systems that encourage people to reduce their resource consumption. We all know the expression “less is more”, but we genuinely need less things for the sake of things and more things that benefit everyone.

 

Sources

Cassie Robinson. (2018). Beyond human-centred design, to?
Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@cassierobinson/beyond-human-centred-design-to-501a994f3123

Fjord. Life-centered design.
Retrieved from: https://trends.fjordnet.com/trends/life-centered-design

Johnathyn Owens. (2019). 10 Principles of Life Centered Design.
Retrieved from: https://medium.com/the-sentient-files/10-principles-of-life-centered-design-3c5f543414f3

Kristan Orton. (2017). Desirability, Feasibility, Viability: The Sweet Spot for Innovation. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/innovation-sweet-spot/desirability-feasibility-viability-the-sweet-spot-for-innovation-d7946de2183c

Unilever. (2019). We’re introducing reusable, refillable packaging to help cut waste.
Retrieved from: https://www.unilever.com/news/news-and-features/Feature-article/2019/we-are-introducing-reusable-refillable-packaging-to-help-cut-waste.html

Frank Van De Ven. (Image). (2018). The three-way design thinking model.
Retrieved from: https://uxdesign.cc/the-brand-the-forgotten-child-in-design-thinking-74bc54ee4abe

Featured Image: Andrea Rico. Retrieved from: https://unsplash.com/photos/n-bUCycGItg

 

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How the secret powers of A/B Testing can improve your future online business.


Have you ever scrolled through a famous digital platform such as Google, Youtube or Instagram and wondered how these companies optimize the design of their product experience for the user? How do they make these websites instantly catch the user’s attention, or make sure that the browsing experience is as smooth as possible and the information just where you want it to be? When visiting these websites, one often browses through them without noticing the details of their design, as if browsing them is as natural and unconscious as the feeling of breathing. What is the secret optimization formula behind the design processes of these websites? Indeed there is a secret, just that the secret is already commonly known and applied by the world’s largest and most successful tech businesses such as Google, IBM, Microsoft and Spotify. In this article, we will take a glimpse into A/B testing, the secret formula, and how this framework for digital experimentation can help you to radically improve your online business.

 

Defining A/B Testing

Now that we have caught your attention, we can slowly introduce you to what A/B testing is. A/B testing is the creation of variations of a website, which get tested in a testing environment with the user. The “A” in A/B testing represents the original version, the control group, while the “B”, represents the treatment group, the variations that are put against the original’s performance. The treatment group “B” can be further expanded to “C, D, E, F… n”, and so on, further adding to the number of variations that are put against the control group and each other. The experiment can be carried out in a closed environment with a selected group of users or in the public domain of a live website. In parallel to the execution of the experiment, performance indicators, such as conversion rates, interaction rates, numbers of visitors, etc. are being recorded. These indicators help to select the variation that performs the best against the control. At the end of the A/B test, the best performing variation is then made the default and the testing cycle starts over again. This is how A/B testing works on a basic level.

 

A Brief History of A/B Testing

But before we jump straight into the details of A/B testing, let’s quickly go through the brief history of A/B testing and how it evolved into the current method that is widely used in tech today. Going back in time the story begins in the year 2000, with Google engineers experimenting with variations in the design of Google’s search result page. The goal was to find out the optimal amount of search results displayed on a single page. After the experimentation, they found out that displaying 10 search results led to the most amount of desired user interaction. Ever since then 10 results per page remained as the answer to their design question. In the following years, other tech companies such as Amazon, MSN and Bing followed by experimenting where and how to display advertisements throughout their platforms. In Bing’s case, the selection of the winning variation in the A/B test increased the revenue drastically by 12%. Today, each of these companies run tens of thousands of A/B tests annually, making it the strongest tool for increasing a website’s performance.

 

Three Best Practices in A/B Testing

So you might wonder how this can be applied to your business’ website? This is why in the following section we will present you three essential best practices in A/B testing that are easily applicable and will give you real-world cases and benefits of the A/B testing method.

 

1. Select what you want to test, before you test.

Before you start creating random variations of your website, you should consider what you want to test in the first place. What is the purpose of your A/B test? Is it to test an ad? The size of an ad on your website? The content of the ad or its positioning on the website? Those are the questions that have to be answered and kept in mind when running an A/B test. For what was not measured during the test, can’t be proven after the test. To give you an idea of how you can apply that, we will look into an example where we take the positioning of the ad as the element we want to look at in our A/B test. In this case, we will choose the number of users clicking on the ad’s link as the unit of measurement of desired performance. Now we create a variation, where the ad is displayed inside the content section of the website, while we keep the original, where the ad is at the beginning for controlling purposes. After assigning the testing variations to two user groups, we can see how the different positioning of the Ad affects the outcome in performance. if there is a significant difference in performance, we apply the superior variant for the ad positioning. Now we have improved upon the selected aspect of the website via A/B testing by conducting a specific test.

 

2. Running many tests over a long period of time.

The easiest way to increase the potential of A/B testing is to increase the numbers of tests that run simultaneously. This allows you to have higher odds of getting a successful test outcome as you diversify your bets. For example, when comparing an A/B test consisting of only one variation from the original to an A/B test that has a hundred variations, it becomes very clear which of these two will lead to the closest point to the maximum performing outcome. In another perspective, the chances of getting even a worse performing result in the test consisting of only one variation are also significantly higher, as all the bets are being put on one trial. Furthermore, the tests can be distributed and conducted throughout a longer period of time, of let’s say a month instead of just a single day, to see how different variations in the A/B test perform over a time period that involves many user sessions. Applying this method will help you to mitigate the effects of “novelty”, in which the involved users will often show an initial heightened interest and level of interaction with a new tested feature or element that then decays over time. Thus, running the test over a long period of time, while also running many of them allows you to increase the performance of your A/B tests while also gaining more truthful data from it.

 

3. Building an experimentation culture

The last vital decision and endeavour to make when implementing A/B testing as part of any business, is to take a closer look at the current culture. Do employees shy away from risks and uncertainty? Are there any signs of blame games going on whenever a project fails ? 

These are just two of the common signs that your organization may not be able to fully embrace a culture where testing and experimentation is the norm. This kind of situation is normal in larger companies, since usually a few cultures end up being predominant over the entire company. For example, a company focused on rather simple and repetitive tasks as its core business, such as a sales-driven organisation, may apply the tolerance of failure established in the core business to other functions of the business, such as R&D. Therefore, building and maintaining a suited company culture – especially in the part of the business which will be mainly tasked with the testing – is key. An environment which facilitates testing and data-driven decisions are the basis for any course of action needs to be established. This can be done by normalising frequent tests and making sure that leaders are role models for this kind of culture. Furthermore, the required infrastructure and decision power need to be put in place. This enables teams to perform and really showcase some of the key strengths of A/B testing. Often this means flying under the radar for some time, making it easier for a certain culture of experimentation to coexist in a company with otherwise completely different norms. In order to truly capitalize on the benefits of A/B testing and experimentation, in the long term it is often easier to embed it at the core of the organization.

 

Making the First Step

Having said that all, how can you capitalize on this knowledge? It all seems to be a lot and you probably ask yourself: where do I start with all of this? A/B testing is a methodology that requires technical infrastructure that allows you to automatically redirect incoming users towards the desired test variations. But luckily there are many easy-to-implement solutions already existing out there, such as the tools Google Analytics and Google Optimizer. These tools allow you to implement the technical basics for your A/B testing endeavours. The use of Google Analytics allows you to collect quantitative customer data, such as the number of visitors, conversion rate, interaction and use of tools, etc., while Google Optimizer allows you to display A/B test variations on your live website. Thus the combination of the two tools allows you to run A/B tests on your website without the need to develop and implement every technical detail on your own. This saves not only precious time, but also money that would have been spent on additional software developers. But of course, if your business can afford the full financial investment of an A/B testing infrastructure for your website, it would make more sense to choose a custom solution that fits your business’ needs.

 

Three Pitfalls in A/B Testing

Once you have taken the first steps and established the infrastructure, culture and the expectations for your testing endeavours, there are a few major pitfalls that might prevent you from getting more out of it. In the following part, we have highlighted some of the most common mistakes which you should avoid, as well as how you can deal with them.

 

1. Averaging out valuable data

While it may be tempting to come up with decisions when looking at the outcome of a test across all user segments, this overview often simplifies the data. Amidst these simplified dashboards which aim to give you a brief overview, it’s easy to forget that behind this consolidated data, there is a diverse set of users making up a population of data points, each acting in their own unique and different way.

Thus, it is useful to predefine certain user segments when running a large scale test. This empowers you to look beyond the average of the data set and enables you to segment users in regards to their geographical location, behaviour, past engagement, or even their previous decisions in other A/B tests. In a second step, targeting a predefined segment of users enables you to test innovations which aim at encouraging a defined set of behaviours for a user segment.

An example for this was when employees at Amazon recognized that a certain type of users would often purchase products at unusual hours during the day. By narrowing down testing to target only those users, they were able to find that those users would respond to an Ad placement on an external website only if it corresponded roughly with their usual purchase time. This not only made timed ads extremely effective for these users, but also meant that including them in testing environments with average users would have likely presented them as outliers, and the data is ignored.

Therefore, segmentation creates a positive feedback loop in which by testing more, you will be able to segment the user base more, which enables you to run highly segmented experiments which then can help you to narrow down the user base even further. 

With that in mind, you should still not try to get more out of the data than there really is. Statistical outliers are common among all kinds of tests, and there is no exception when it comes to A/B testing. Don’t get caught up trying to follow individual users who represent extreme outliers, instead find a good balance.

 

2. Not considering users as part of a community

A second common pitfall of A/B testing is to consider each user as a unique entity and to forget that some actions may have a network effect and influence the behaviour of many other users. Changes that include users being encouraged to interact with other users in different ways, often also affect the entire system in which these users operate. An experiment which encourages certain behaviour such as a user sending a message to another user on their birthday might also influence the users not directly affected by the experiment, in this case, the user receiving congratulations for their birthday. One common solution to this issue is to use A/B network testing. In order to get the full picture of the implications of a change, in an A/B network, isolated user groups represent control and test cases. This helps you to understand the systemic impact of any changes, and see the downstream effects of certain changes. Simply put, it helps you see the butterfly effect following a butterfly’s wing flaps.

 

3. Lack of patience and strategic consideration

Just as it may take many interactions to create a user behaviour pattern, it may also take a while to change it. That’s why short term testing can seldom reveal the real effects the change may have on the user in the long run. Furthermore, the effects may differ substantially depending on the exposure a user has on a certain treatment.  It is therefore advised to keep tests running until user behaviour has stabilised before drawing any conclusions. Another approach to show the long term systemic effects of changes, is to run time series experiments. This means exposing a large segment of the market to a certain change for a longer timeframe, aimed at showing the long term effects of certain treatments against the control.

It is important to note that many experimentation projects are not fully able to take off because too much is expected too soon. While simple tests can be established with relative ease, it may take many iterations and an extended duration to establish a solid testing routine and the necessary infrastructure to support it.

 

Key Takeaways

Once you have the necessary technical infrastructure, it is an easy step to make towards running the A/B test. Just keep in mind the three best practices and three pitfalls that will guide you towards your end goal of increasing your website’s performance, whether it is about improving the user experience, or gaining more clicks on advertisements.  Always be selective of what you want to test, and keep tests running as frequently as possible, and for extended durations. Build a culture that allows for frequent tests, and which embraces experimentation as a key tool for optimization. And while you are building on these best practises, always keep in mind that averaging out data means missing out on valuable insights. Segment your user base, and always keep in mind that there may be an entire network of users affected by just one change. Lastly, always keep in mind that testing is a long term effort and that you should always set the expectations about this straight. Testing is about adopting a mindset of continuous improvement, and doing so will greatly empower you to make the right decisions.

 

Sources

Stefan Thomke. (2020). Building a Culture of Experimentation
https://hbr.org/2020/03/productive-innovation#building-a-culture-of-experimentation

Iavor Bojinov, Guillaume Saint-Jacques and Martin Tingley. (2020). Avoid the Pitfalls of A/B Testing
https://hbr.org/2020/03/productive-innovation#avoid-the-pitfalls-of-a-b-testing

Daniel McGinn. (2020). The Power of These Techniques Is Only Getting Stronger
https://hbr.org/2020/03/productive-innovation#the-power-of-these-techniques-is-only-getting-stronger

Jessie Chen. (2016). How Netflix does A/B Testing Jessie Chen
https://uxdesign.cc/how-netflix-does-a-b-testing-87df9f9bf57c

Amy Gallo. (2017). A Refresher on A/B Testing
https://hbr.org/2017/06/a-refresher-on-ab-testing

Stephen Courtney. (2019). What is AB Testing?
https://www.convertize.com/what-is-ab-testing/

Wikipedia Article. A/B testing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A/B_testing

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Gender Gap – How to design a workplace that empowers women

With International Women’s day happening just a few week ago, we once again made a call to close the gender inequality gap. While the topic of gender inequality at the workplace is something we’ve all heard about (and might be tired of hearing), the topic is especially pressing in the design industry. And here is why.

Studies show that the design field is one of the areas where gender inequality is especially severe. A 2018 research by the Design Museum shows that while the underrepresentation of women is absent from an academic point of view, with about seven out of ten design students being female, many of the graduates don’t make it into the workplace successfully. As working designers, women namely only make up one in five professionals and inhibit only 11% of leading design positions.

But what are the reasons for this disparity?

No transparency in reporting

Some countries such as the UK for example have made it mandatory for companies counting more than 250 employees to report on their gender pay gaps. The problem however is that most design agencies aren’t affected by this measure as they are often much smaller than this. This makes the design field more oblivious to prevailing gender injustices.

Women remain the primary caregivers

As women remaining the primary caregiver, they average about 36 workhours per week, whilst men reach an average of 41 hours. The problem is that many companies still view working overtime as an expression of worker’s commitment and determination to a promotion, therefore putting women automatically in a second place among the candidates for a promotion. Furthermore, in search of better insurance cover and parental support, women tend to work at larger design agencies rather than independent design studios. As independent agencies are often of greater prominencey and renowned to win in competitions, helping employees to move up the career ladder, working mothers at mainstream agencies often miss out on these opportunities.

The importance of gender-identical role models

Another reason for underrepresentation of women at the top is the lack of role models in the workplace. Role models have an assuring and legitimizing effect on other women in the workplace. A study carried out by the University of Massachussets confirms this: When they run tests with same sex mentors they found that women were higher-performing. Malhotra, an Indian graphic designer and studio owner makes an attempt for explanation:

“Role-models are about seeing possibility for yourself; when you have them, there’s a greater likelihood that you’ll fulfil your ambition. “ (Source)

So same sex role models are particularly empowering and often lacking in the design field as a report from AIGA’s Eye on Design concluded that female speakers only make up 35.7% at European design conferences.

Brotherhood in the design field

Furthermore, various records of women have stated that there is a particularly strong brotherhood going on in the design field often excluding women. This group formation often makes women doubt their own validity and through this uncertainty make them more risk averse and less likely to speak up. As a consequence, this lack of bonding and being part of the “squad” makes them less likely to move up to leading positions as their capabilities are undermined.

Women face greater pushback

Another common explanation for the pay gap is that women don’t ask as frequently for a pay raise as men. A study by McKinsey however found that it is not the case that they ask less frequently but the problem is that when they do ask, they get more resistance and pushback than men, eventually causing them to cease. Adding to this is the fact that women generally receive less feedback than men, whereas they ask for it as often as men do.

Unconscious bias towards women

This unconscious bias towards women is furthermore contributing to inequality. Viewing women as less valuable and not as committed to the workforce as men has implications on our views on women and their status in the workplace. A study by Ernst & Young stated unconscious bias as one of the main reasons for the work position discrepancy between men and women.

Women’s lack of self-confidence

One thing that separates women from men in terms of their personality is the fact that women generally tend to underestimate themselves and are more modest about their achievements whereas men often dare to take on greater challenges as they’re more self-confident. Men therefore also more openly proclaim their personal achievements making themselves ultimately better at selling themselves.

So, the question remains – What can companies do to create a workspace that empowers women?

Enforcement of company policies

From a top-down perspective, one effective thing that employers can do is to create policies that discourage gender bias and harassment and that actively encourage female inclusion in the workspace. However, it is also important to realize that those regulations only turn out to be empty words if disregarded by frontline managers. It is therefore important to ensure concrete plans of actions the company wants to take and to make sure that everyone is on the same page regarding the new policies. For example, the company can work to offer better child support services or at least offer more flexible models of work to accommodate working mothers.

Legally binding measures

To make such measures even more effective, they have to be legally binding. One way of doing this is by enforcing gender quota laws which make sure that there is an equal gender representation. Whether this opens the debate for more injustices and other arising problems is left aside for now. Furthermore, measures like we saw in the example of the UK, where companies are forced to report on potential gender gaps, have to be stepped up by making reporting necessary regardless of a company’s size. That way also smaller sized design agencies would need to be transparent and open up about inequalities in the workplace.

A new performance measure

Another issue, as mentioned earlier, is that women or working mothers in particular spend fewer hours at the work desk than men. This is rather suboptimal for a promotion as many employers are still attached to the view that the work hours invested is a reliable performance indicator. However, one source stated that performance measured in terms of hours spent at the work desk is not a representative performance indicator as it doesn’t take into account efficiency or productivity. If we want to create a workplace promoting female leaders we have to change this notion.

Open up dialogue

In terms of communication, companies should open up dialogue about gender bias in order to encourage women to openly address any injustices they experience and make colleagues more understanding of their situation. Also, companies can offer workshops and trainings for women that support nonviolent communication that aid women’s advocation for their rights and needs. That way they would be better equipped to stay persistent when it comes for example to salary negotiations.

Fighting bias through active encouragement and education

As has been addressed, whereas women ask just as much as men for a pay raise, they face greater pushback than men. Women have still a hard time in the workplace to be seen as valuable and credible sources of knowhow. The old image of women in the primary role of caregivers still overshadows our modern society. If we really want women to climb to the top of the leadership ladder, a general shift in mindset has to take place. Women shouldn’t have to assert themselves against men but finally should be taken seriously for all their skills and capabilities that make them a valuable addition to any company. In a women empowering workplace it is therefore also the job of the employer to actively encourage women in the company to apply for leading design positions and thereby reinforcing their capabilities. From an educational point of view it would make sense to include education on gender in the curriculum, consequently opening  up perspectives on stereotypical gender roles early on.

But one last question remains. Why should women be empowered in the first place?

Besides the obvious fact that women should have equal rights as men and therefore be treated equally, the inclusion of women in the workplace has a positive effect on the company overall.

Designed-in gender bias

As we live in a world dominated by men, we’re also prone to design a man’s world. It is proven that even when it comes to the design of things, there is designed-in bias favouring male recipients. Just to name an example, speech recognition is 70% more likely to comprehend men rather than women. In order to get rid of this “designed-in” bias, we need to recruit more women into the design field and higher ranking positions in particular. Design should be about inclusion which is not possible when we already exclude some people in the design process. Human centered design should be freed from any form of bias.

More (gender-)diverse teams have greater success

Another reason why we should actively empower women at work is because diversity is beneficial for business. As a matter of fact, diverse teams, thereby also encouraging the inclusion of women, are able to create 27% greater value than less diverse teams. Moreover, Hoogedorn et al. (2013) also discovered that gender-diverse project teams will generate greater profits, making women’s inclusion pay off in a literal sense.

Greater employment satisfaction

Other studies suggest that the inclusion of women in the workplace lead to greater employment satisfaction and engagement as well as reducing the risk of burnout. Consequently, dedication will be higher and a company’s efficiency will increase resulting in greater innovation efforts.

This article had the aim to illustrate some common causes for gender discrepancy in general and in the field of design in particular. It was followed by a set of suggestions on how to create a work environment that empowers women and ends with a notion of why the inclusion of women in the workplace pays off on all ends. Especially in a design process it is important to draw on diverse perspectives as design always should be an inclusive activity. If not, we risk to design for a men’s world. But just as Jutta Treviranus, Director of the Inclusive Design Research Centre, says “Diversity is our world’s greatest asset and inclusion is our biggest challenge” – While we still have a long way to go when it comes to including women in the workplace and it is by no ways an easy task, it will be worth it in the end.

 

Sources:

https://designingwomen.readymag.com/essay/in-house-histories/?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=designingwomen

https://www.forbes.com/sites/pragyaagarwaleurope/2018/08/31/how-you-can-encourage-more-women-into-your-workforce/#dc4c3c173bb0

https://iwpr.org/issue/employment-education-economic-change/pay-equity-discrimination/$

https://www.invensislearning.com/blog/workplace-gender-equality/

https://www.ccl.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WhatWomenWant.FINAL_.pdf

https://www.invisionapp.com/inside-design/hurdles-women-design-industry/

https://www.designerfund.com/blog/10-design-leaders-empower-women-workplace-insights-women-design-2017/

https://www.kerningthegap.com

https://towardsdatascience.com/is-the-difference-in-work-hours-the-real-reason-for-the-gender-wage-gap-interactive-infographic-6051dff3a041

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/09/24/stay-at-home-moms-and-dads-account-for-about-one-in-five-u-s-parents/

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/women-in-the-workplace-2016

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022103113000206

https://designingwomen.readymag.com/essay/?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=designingwomen

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How can we break the stigma and change the perception of depression?

Depression can affect everyone – an introduction to the topic

“My world falls apart, crumbles, the centre cannot hold. There is nowhere to go.” 
― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

In Switzerland one person out of seven experiences depression symptoms at least once during their life (FSO, 2020). Although depression is a widespread disease, it still remains quite little known and often misunderstood. Experts state that a diagnosis is fundamental, as non-treated depression can lead to unnecessary suffering and may endanger those who suffer from it. Depression can affect everyone and has a profound impact on individuals’ quality of life. This blog post aims to raise awareness about this disease and, with a 3-step guide, gives tips about how to support a person who shows depression symptoms. In addition to this, I will introduce an interesting design management initiative in which I see great potential to decrease the current stigma related to this topic. At the end of this post I will provide you with links to learn more about this complex, yet highly relevant subject.

A brief outlook: What is depression?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines depression as a mental disorder in the form of persistent sadness and a lack of gratification in previously pleasing activities and events. On the occasion of the World Mental Health Day 2017, the WHO published an illustrated story that portrays depression with the metaphor of a black dog (link). Complex interactions between social, psychological and biological factors play a crucial role in the causes of depression. Did you know that depression can be experienced in many different ways? Some can be affected by a single episode in their life, while for others is a recurring evil. Depression disorders can be triggered as a consequence of a particular event, or the result of an extended period of overload. But not only: depression can hit like a thunderbolt. This link will tell you more about the symptoms of depression.

Why is depression so stigmatized in our society?

The great pressure we experience in our everyday life has a severe impact on our mental health. At this point, it is worth reflecting on the fundamental role that society plays in our lives. We are constantly asked to meet expectations and aspire to perfectionism. This constant pressure may hinder us to understand who we are and what values we want to pursue. On one hand, we build ourselves a life that does not take into account our weaknesses and insecurities. On the other hand, the expectations set by other people create stress and anxiety. We may end up living a life that does not reflect who we want to be, and this may lead to continuous, growing frustration and unfulfillment. We do not recognize that we are pursuing goals imposed by society. And, once we achieved them, we eventually realize that this may not be what we wanted. Individuals might not be confident enough to externalize their feelings as well as admit and communicate their weaknesses. We struggle to ask for any help because it seems like there is no space for frailties in our culture. Society tends to minimize the problem or does even not acknowledge it. As a consequence, those who suffer from depression symptoms may feel lonely and helpless, stuck in their sense of guilt and discomfort. How can we overcome the stigma associated with mental disorders?

The value of using the correct language when talking about depression

Scarce information, as well as prejudices and fear, may hinder depression recognition and treatment. To overcome this stigma, we must recognize the importance of a correct use of the language. For instance, we must make sure that the term depression is not downplayed or misused. A proper language and approach around the topic will change the perception of depression for both, those who suffer from it and those who are around and may offer their support. The goal is to make depression something of public domain, a common imagery that can happen to everyone at any time. And to do this, depression must be addressed directly, without futile twists and turns. Talking about it freely and correctly is the first step to recovery. Of course, it is easier said than done: the journey is long and requires great will and commitment from people. How can we do that? The following section introduces an initiative held between May 2019 and January 2020 in Ticino which is a great example of how design management can contribute to address this societal challenge.

A look at the project “Depression: Let’s talk about it!”

The campaign “Depression: Let’s talk about it!”, has been ideated and promoted by the Department of Public Health of Ticino in collaboration with L’ideatorio (a laboratory of Università della Svizzera italiana). This initiative aimed at the general public and consisted in a series of events that combined experts’ interventions with different disciplines such as theatre, cinema, literature, and medicine to create a new language and bring the audience closer to the theme of depression. As this initiative caught my attention and interest, I tried to get access to more information and had the opportunity to interview one of the promoters. The idea behind was to experiment with something new moving away from the traditional conference style, that would most likely catch the interest of those who are directly affected by depression, excluding most of the population. The objective was to provide a platform to listen to professionals, share testimonies, and encourage the public to reflect on how essential it is to be aware of this disease. More in general, it was conveyed the importance of understanding that depression is a disease that needs to be addressed…the sooner, the better! The biggest insight of “Depression: Let’s talk about it!” was that it is vital to actively act and reach out to people, without expecting that they will be the ones looking for you. The challenge is to be able to integrate the theme in events and environments where also people not directly affected by this disease can be addressed.

How to support – a 3-step guide

Depression is a recognized illness. Addressing the disease is the first step toward recovery and being able to capture the signals is an essential point to start from. Here is a 3-step guide that will give you a first brief outlook of how to behave in case a relative or a friend shows depression symptoms.

  1. Create a non-judgmental environment

Listen carefully and avoid downplaying the disease. This could make feel the person not understood, as well as increase the sense of guilt that may worsen the problem. Also, do not underestimate and neglect discomfort: try to be receptive and to create a non-judgmental atmosphere where the person feels at ease in sharing his or her thoughts, fears and emotions. In such situations, it is important to have someone to trust and who gives the chance to open up. Keeping things in can be harmful!

  1. Make it a habit to talk

Individuals suffering from depression may often ask themselves whether what they are experiencing is normal or not. For this reason, it is important to talk as freely as possible and confront each other. To help this happen, try to make it a habit to freely talk about feelings and emotions. Eventually, try to support and guide this person to seek external help. In case the person does not accept professional support right away, try to tackle the issue during critical moments, such as crisis, when the person seems to need help most. As every depression case is unique, there is no manual to learn how to behave in such circumstances. If the person seeks help, it may be useful to get in touch with the treating physician and ask for advices (of course, without invading privacy).

  1. Take care of your personal mental health

Last but not least, remember to take good care of yourself too! Trying to help out others is a noble action but requires a certain amount of energy and efforts. Therefore, it is essential to make sure you feel strong enough to face the situation and are able give the support this person deserves. This link will provide you with tips of how to take good care of your mental health.

Below you can find further readings and helpful sources to get more insights about this complex, yet highly sensitive and relevant topic.

Sources and helpful links:

Federal Statistical Office (2020). Health. Retrieved from https://www.swissstats.bfs.admin.ch/collection/ch.admin.bfs.swissstat.en.issue201415431900/article/issue201415431900-01

Keck, M. E. (2017). Depression. Retrieved from https://depression.ch/content/5-informationsquellen/2-downloads/brintellix_patienten_broschuere_depression_i.pdf (Italian)

L’ideatorio (2019). Depressione, parliamone! Retrieved from https://ideatorio.usi.ch/progetto/depressione-parliamone (Italian)

Psy-Gesundheit.ch (2020). Retrieved from https://www.psygesundheit.ch/de/

World Health Organization (2020). Depression. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

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The thinking that will get you the design job you wanted 

 

Everyone knows it and everyone hates it. The process of applying for a design job. But why so? Probably because everything counts. Because every little detail on how the application is put together is perceived and valued. How it is structured, which font is used, and so on; it is the whole package that indicates your value in the market. While a finance-guy could simply use a template on Word, you would dig your own grave with that in the design realm. Applying into a design agency is a science for itself. 

The world-wide-web nicely caters hundreds of checklists, how-to guides, and videos on that topic, but as it seems like, it is still not done properly. What already sounds frustrating in the introduction and seems like a hopeless task, is actually a good thing, my friends! With a little bit of focus, this means there is space for us to excel in our application. What that differentiating focus could be and mean, you will find here. Step by step. 

The observations I made with these endeavors so far are that I often got lost early on, started wrongly altogether or straightly dove into a strict portfolio-mindset, all of which resulting in an unfinished and non-satisfying outcome. That’s why I decided to get to the bottom of that seemingly hateful process and find out what thinking could guide us in this self-portraying project.

 

1.  Do some soul searching 

First and foremost, ask yourself what you want to do and where your passion lies. There is plenty of other fish in the sea, but no one is just like you. So this initial question is fundamental. Not only for your professional career but more in a general context. We all know the classic: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”-question. This one will follow sooner or later and we should all be able to truthfully answer it to ourselves. Be sure to know what you want to do in your life and on what to focus, it will make planning your future much easier. Ask yourself questions like “what did I enjoy the most in my studies?”, “what was I specifically good at?” or “what made me smile or feel like opening a bottle of champagne?”.  

If this is not enough and you’re still unsure, the next step can be to find someone who is already working in an agency or corporation and talking to the people from this profession. This can give you guidance and vision about the direction you could go. Also, it will get you some understanding and sense of reality and could set straight false assumptions or underline correct ideas of yours about the job itself.

This is a very important point. How can you show yourself in the best light if you don’t even know where it is yourself?

2.  Tell your story well

As soon as you know your strengths, your style, and your preferences, it is time to show them well. As a designer, you know that I’m talking about the portfolio, this is where you can give a good account of yourself. The general idea of a portfolio has shifted a lot in recent years, it nowadays is more about telling a story and presenting yourself as a human being, instead of a worker and performer only. People hiring for design roles are keen to see your versatility, want to feel that you can display a set of soft skills and that you can work in a team. So, when you think of the portfolio, you should think about the document that contains more than just your work. A proper representation of yourself, your experience and your personality.

In what form you wish to set up your portfolio is all up to you and your own judgment. Keeping in mind that we live in the age of digitalization, which not only means you should be able to set up and build your online presence, but also take into account that the potential employers can much easier access your data. It definitely does not shed a bad light if you can show your affinity of using modern ways of communication and maybe even your ability to learn new things. On that note, there are quite a few simple-to-use online services that can help you build your portfolio as a non-professional (Squarespace, Wix, Readymag, to name a few). Be aware though, the professionals easily notice the difference between templates that have been altered or not, so this is a great opportunity to bring in your own style and show that effort has been put into it. This will make your online presence authentic and, again, shows your creativity. 

The portfolio is the first impression your desired company will have from you, so here are some tips to consider when introducing your projects: 

 

  • What was your role?
  • Was it a group project or individual work?
  • What was the background of the project? 
  • What were the goals of the project? 
  • Who were the users you design for? 
  • What problem needed to be solved? 
  • How were you planning to solve those problems on that matter?

 

As designers, we know that it is not only about making things beautiful but much more about using the right processes and storytelling to create great solutions, tailored to the end-user. So this is where you can proudly document how you work, what methods you are familiar with and how you apply them to reach that final result. Short and punchy background information of your skill-set completes it nicely. 

3.  Research like a real designer 

A job application in design always means entering into a collaborative environment, where you will work with other professionals. So when it comes to looking for a job opening or a company that would fit your dreams, which I would personally suggest going for in the first place, it is crucial to make sure to build your career in a corporate setting where you can thrive in. In the end, people who you surround yourself with will be the ones that really affect your further career. So how would you know beforehand, if it would be the right place for you to work? Through extensive research.

Think about it that way: Who is out there, moving into a direction which you would want to be part of? What do these companies have to offer to you? What do they do well, and what not that much? What are the corporate guidelines and how do they portray themselves and their co-workers? Design agencies mostly take good care of their online presence and you will surely be able to detect some characteristics of their internal culture. Look out for the design language they use and see if it seems familiar to you. Overall, actions mostly speak louder than words, so go and explore their latest projects or upcoming events. You might even want to consider going to public events of theirs to network and talk to the people directly.

Get to know a company in-depth before you decide to apply for it, this will not only save you a lot of time in the whole process but also broaden your horizon on the market situation and what is happening in the field. The insights gained in the detailed analysis hopefully ignite your motivation and provide reasons for why they are the perfect fit for you and why you are theirs!

4.  Cover letter as your entry ticket 

After you sparked their interest in the portfolio they will turn to your cover letter. This is your personal voice, speaking to the company. It could be your entry ticket to the table, so don’t waste this opportunity to show that you went the extra mile in this application process. After you’ve done all the research, you will be able to not only present yourself in a professional, promising and surprising way, but it will also allow you to show them how well you know them already and what your contribution to their operations could be. Tell them, where you imagine yourself within their organization, how you would embrace their values and where you possibly even see potential opportunity areas for the future of their company – positively and enthusiastically. 

For the heads of design, the application stands and falls with the cover letter, which could be the deciding factor over an interview invitation. This is where your designers’ mind comes into place, how far can you switch perspectives and put yourself in the position of the other, in this case, the company’s allocated person reading your application?

 

The bottom line 

What it all comes down to is:

1. Do your homework, not only on the company but also on yourself.

2. Know what you’re talking about and don’t just tell them how great they are and how much you would want to work for them, but state what and how you could contribute to their success and what they’d gain from having you in their lines. 

3. See it as the opportunity to differentiate yourself from others.

 

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7 Steps to Prepare for Fundamental Change

Sometimes a world needs a crisis for it to adopt significant change. Crises can pave the way for new systems, structures (maybe even a tolerance for the lack thereof) and values. It can bring a new spark to relationships that appeared to be long lost. Stuck in our routine, we are often not aware of the urgency for something to change. Critical moments call for fundamental turning points in the social and economic environment.

They say a person’s true character surfaces when facing a crisis. This also applies to a country’s whole political and economic system, too. For example, we see how such an emergency reveals how Europe is playing not as fair how it pretended to (as seen at the border of Greece, to mention one thing) and how Switzerland could suddenly recover CHF 32 billion to uphold the stability of the domestic market. Even on a non-political and economic level we can feel the impacts of the threat. It crouches in the corners of our newly established home office, it looms over us in every push notification we read and it lurks in the kitchen cupboards filled with unnecessary amounts of packets of spaghetti and canned food. This leads us all to rethink our ways of living and we have come to the recognition that we messed up before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the eleventh hour to start unmessing ourselves and everything else by not going back to how it was before.

This blog article gives a guide for everyone to come back to oneself, prepare for the change to come and to find where our true passion lies. This will help us with reconnecting with nature like we were supposed to right back when we disconnected from it. Only after aligning with our own house (to be understood as a metaphor for our minds and bodies) we are ready to embrace change with gratefulness, compassion and transcendence. When we have achieved that, we somewhat notice our abilities and how we can best put them to use to become catalysts of change.

 Although we are caged within our own homes under self-quarantine at the moment, we paradoxically start realizing now how imprisoned in our routines before this crisis emerged. Now, a world-changing social movement is inevitable and necessary. What better time is there than the self-quarantine, where we can begin thoroughly reflecting on ourselves and start cranking the gears to design our inner and outer environment for it to be ready for fundamental change. 

Start with asking the right questions

The first step is to not only ask “What can we do to prevent the worst?” but also “What can we do to achieve the best outcome?” Now, instead of trying to think of the easiest and most efficient way to make money out of this situation, think of what this pandemic inherently means to you and your immediate environment. What feelings does it trigger? Does this crisis bring up a trauma you were not aware of before? Where does it stem from? If you notice that you actively ignore a something, ask yourself what the root of that behavior could be. This already leads to the next point:

Be aware

Once you slowly start understanding the patterns in your behavior, you can integrate your environment in your self-reflection and how it affects your ideologies, manners and outlook on life. You might come closer to understanding what role you are playing on this metaphysical level. By this, you recognize what and who brings joy into your life and what things in life drain your energy. This is key to for us to you notice the change that has to be made in our inner and outer environment. By recognizing our bias and understanding others’ perspectives, we can train ourselves to solve the problems of miscommunication and design solutions that reach and serve everybody. This we practice by genuinely and actively listening to our environment and others’ needs and concerns, especially in cases of disputes.

Be informed

By being well informed, we are prepared. If we do so, almost nothing can take you by surprise, positively or negatively. It is key to stay skeptical, conducting multiple independent sources when you inform yourself on a certain topic and strongly doubt conspiracy theories circulating on the internet.

Accept and heal

When you understand your underlying motives, surrender to them instead of forcing yourself to change to be someone else. You can now slowly rid yourself of negative relations, be it with people or with objects, and begin with your healing journey.

Have compassion

Be compassionate and kind to others and yourself. It is normal and okay to mess up. With compassion, we can explore solidarity how far we can go with solidarity. We would have probably not offered to go grocery shopping for all grandmas in your neighborhood some months ago, but this the best chance to help the ones in need. But after all the people in our neighbourhood are helped and all the puppies are walked, ask yourself what more you can do to have an impact in your locality. From there you can build a network entirely built on solidarity and compassion, which could have the potential to trigger huge social movements. But remember how the butterfly effect works. Sometimes it only needs a small action that triggers tremendous change.

Take distance

Working, studying and taking care of loved ones and ourselves during this crisis can be rattling and stressful. By taking a step back and distancing ourselves from our perception, opinions but also from the unstoppable stream of media, we can calm and relieve our minds slowly but steadily.

Be ready

Be ready to leave behind all unspoken restrictions and rules because everything is about to change. It will force the world to be more digital, personal mobility will be significantly reduced and technological innovation is at the brink of tremendous exponential growth.

For example, think of the possibility that the rigidity of the standard nine to five might change going forward. Imagine there was an around the clock economy, the dependence on the sunrise and sunset diminish and people will work according to their biological clock and preference and an entirely new economic dynamic might emerge.

We all should be ready to quickly adapt and take action. This is the time to be creative!

Though these times may be very difficult for us it is of utmost importance that we keep remembering the fact that this crisis bares so many exciting new opportunities. It might spark new relations, new ways of connecting through technology might emerge, new needs on the market and new possibilities to implement ways of cooperation and co-creation will establish. This is the point where various new talents emerge and where the role of the design manager will be recognised.

By aligning our inner and outer environment, it will prepare us for a crisis itself and for whatever comes after it. Like this, we nurture creativity our ability to design for change and achieve to maintain our innovative mindset going into the future.

So, we shall not forget to water our plants and that an existential threat bares the perfect premise to tear down a corrupted construct and build something entirely new on its ruins. Stay creative! 

 

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The Tsunami of Colourism in West Africa

Image: Bettina Tianah

Introduction

Skin bleaching has become a global phenomenon. But the reason why I am focusing in West Africa is because of the health and financial implications it has in West Africa, as equally important to also discuss remedies for the practice. West Africa is a place where people live on less than a dollar a day, some families can barely afford a meal. A report published by WHO in 2011 shows that skin bleaching products are reportedly the fourth most sought-after household item by African women, alongside essentials like soap, milk, etc. (Stears Business, 2018). Furthermore, a study which was conducted in Senegal, a neighboring country to my country The Gambia, implies that the use of lighting creams is a common practice. The women who participated in the study expressed that they wanted to obtain the so-called ”teint clair” meaning to achieve lighter skin appearance, which is considered elegant. The article also mentioned previous studies that were done in other parts of African countries by various researchers, the data gathered shows the similarities of the practices in other countries such as Kenya, Gambia, Mali where 25% of the women use bleaching creams, Togo 25% and Nigeria 75% which are very alarming rates. (Giudice & Yves, 2002)

Many of the bleaching and lightening products used in West Africa, ranging from creams, soaps, pills and injections, all contain harmful ingredients that are sometimes not even listed on the packaging, such as mercury, high-dose steroids and hydroquinone. Research has shown that these ingredients can cause kidney failure and other illnesses. Further research has identified mechanisms by which hydro-quinone exposure from skin bleaching products could cause psychosocial health, brain damage in fetuses and cancer. (Benn, et al., 2019). Knowing how dangerous these products are why do we want to change ourselves at the expense of our health? I assume that, we were brainwashed to make us feel that we are never good enough by being dark skin. Nevertheless, we have options and solutions to bring an end to the practice and to put an end to the trading of bleaching creams.

Firstly, involving designers, lawmakers, and social media campaigners should be the first step,  anyone who can influence, can make an impact. We should use the powers of design to educate the public about the dangers of the practice, and the medical effects it has on our health, awareness campaigns on the issue needs to be done starting from the bottom up, which is from very young girls to adult women since the older generation had already been brainwash so much that skin bleaching had been integrated into our culture where it has found a home. We should start to work on re-education that stresses changing the mindset and mentality of the people, especially the children to accept their skin and to show them that having dark skin is not a bad thing, our differences are what make us unique. Children’s books and cartoons with characters which looks like the typical West African child should be designed. Programs that enlighten children about the dangers of skin bleaching should be introduced in the school system and also to teach the children about loving and taking pride in themselves. Lastly, lawmakers should introduce higher penalties and fines for the importation and sales of bleaching creams. Moreover, strict controls should be done when goods are getting in the countries, anyone who is found importing bleaching creams should be given longer jail sentences.

Is it greed or has design actually failed us?

To uncover the background of the complexity of the issue, I conducted an extensive research which confirms that large multinational corporations are the major players in the industry, they spend tremendous sums on research and development, and much more on marketing and advertising strategically tailored for African consumers. Furthermore, they hire design experts that are good at creating appealing images and messages which make light skin fashionable, this indirectly portrays blackness with primitiveness and lack of civilization, just for a motive driven by economic greed. ( Glenn 2008, as cited in Jean Michel Massing 1995, 180) argues that advertisements which are design to brainwashed people of colored had been seen dating back to 1930, when a French poster for “Dirtoff” showed a drawing of an African man washing his hands with soap, which then became white, and the declaration was ” Le Savon Dirtoff me blanchit” meaning the Dirtoff soap whitens me. Such dramatic messages showing the black person losing his or her color by using cleaning products has always existed, so the reasons why West Africans are not accepting their skin color is deeper than our subconscious mind. This is because design is a very powerful tool that plays a huge role in influencing the mentality and lifestyle of society, be it in the form of a campaign, images or products. So, the notion of West Africans accepting black pride will not favor the producers of bleaching products, they will do anything to see the business flourish.

My traumatic experience

When I was younger, I had dolls that were white, slender with silky blond hair, which was the opposite of how I looked. As an African child I had different features which are dark skin and afro-kinky hair. And I didn’t know why I couldn’t look like those dolls. I remember asking my mum that if I wash myself with bleach will my skin peel and look like my doll? All I wanted was to look like those dolls. Thinking back, I believe that our experiences as children can influence how we view and perceive the world as we grow older. Judging from my experience as a teenager, I had everything that I wanted. The necessities which were problems for the average teenage girl like food and clothes were not the issue for me. But there was one thing which was missing inside of me, I didn’t know what it was. But one thing I knew was that I hated being black with every fiber in my body. So, I started bleaching my skin, and did so for many years. I wanted to look European. I used to think that being white was extremely beautiful, but today I would rather be two shades darker than a shade lighter.

Psychosocial Motivation

Why are skin bleaching creams continuously raping generations of young women who are entangled in a mentality where there is a sense of importance played on being lighter, how sad could it get when the dark skin woman is no longer deemed beautiful even in the place she calls home when we are part of the continent where more than 76.4% of the population is black. Is the reason why people don’t accept themselves beyond aesthetics?

There is also the psychology of white people tanning their skin to get darker and risking skin cancer along the way whiles black people are bleaching their skin to look whiter and risking their health. The other day, I spoke to a European friend who said that on many occasions she was being told that she was too pale and she should get a tan or apply fake tanning creams, but she didn’t want to do it, hence that’s how she was born and she is happy with her skin, but the constant reminder of her whiteness from people make her feel embarrassed. Should she conform to society’s standard of beauty? Which is what we see on the media, defined as tall, slender and tanned.  Why should we run away from who we are?  We have become so dilutional to the extent that colorism is still a topic in this day and age. Our skin color shouldn’t define what the standard of beauty is. We are all different and special in our way. Moreover, if we want to fight this epidemic, we need to be comfortable with our skin and define beauty by ourselves.

Imagine being ashamed of your skin color

I  met a friend whom I  had a lengthy conversation with, we haven’t seen each other for years, but to my dismay, I didn’t even recognize her when we met, because she changed her skin beyond recognition, she was so light that the veins beneath her skin were visible. I asked her what was the reason of this drastic transformation, and her reply was not surprising, because growing up I have heard the same reasons thousands of times, which was having a lighter skin makes her have access to the privileges in life, like easy access to economic and social status. Moreover, most men have the perception that the lighter a woman is the more beautiful she is, so women who are in the hope of getting married turn to bleaching creams because they believe it gives them a higher chance of getting married.

To conclude, It’s time that we take matters into our hands and it should be done now! Making a change is never easy, but we should work hard to stop the powerful economic forces that are creating the yearning for lightness at the expense of our health. The continent has been exploited for decades, so skin bleaching issues should be treated as a national emergency for every country. We should work on changing the mentality of the people with regards to skin bleaching, it will be difficult, but the conversation about beauty and colorism needs to be open.

 

Refrerences

Giudice, P. D., & Yves, P. (2002). The widespread use of skin lightening creams in Senegal: a persistent public health problem in West Africa. International Journal of Dermatology, 41(2), 69–72.

Glenn, E. N. (2008). Yearning for Lightness. Gender & Society, 22(3), 281–302.

Rao, P. (2019, April). Paying a high price for skin bleaching | https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/april-2019-july-2019/paying-high-price-skin-bleaching