Les femmes n’ont pas les mêmes besoins que les hommes, elles n’appréhendent pas la technologie de la même manière et leur sens de l’esthétique est très différent (et beaucoup plus amusant à mon humble avis). Mais les centres de décisions technologiques manquent cruellement de ce point de vue capital qui est celui de la femme. Surtout si les technologies en question sont mises en marché pour la maison ou pour la femme spécifiquement. Les achats qui se font dans le cadre d’une maisonnée passent prioritairement par l’aval de la femme et jamais un moniteur beige ne trônera dans le salon d’un couple, dont la femme est soucieuse de l’esthétique.
Comme il est de notoriété publique que les questions féminines m’intéressent de plus en plus, bien des potes me refilent des infos, des articles, des études et des points de vue qui rejoignent ce champ d’intérêt grandissant pour moi et je les en remercie. C’est ainsi que le copain Bruno Boutot, me twitte les détails de l’article [2] de Product design and development Why Technology Needs Women [3]de Christina Tynan-Wood qui a aussi écrit le livre How to Be a Geek Goddess: Practical Advice for Using Computers with Smarts and Style [4]. Dans son article on peut lire:
Recent statistics from the Consumer Electronics Association show that women spend $68 billion annually on consumer electronics products and influence 89 percent of all purchases. Because technology manufacturers have finally noticed this, we are just now beginning to see more products that look good in a living room and that women will want to carry in their purse. The places we go to buy technology are also starting to calm their testosterone-fueled atmosphere in order to appeal to shoppers who sport a bit more estrogen.
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Even when I was in the powerful position of controlling coverage for the only home section in a major computer magazine, I couldn’t convince a room of men –all of them very nice, not a Neanderthal in the bunch — that a woman’s “different” aesthetic is an opportunity. In fact, women often get upset when I suggest that women are drawn to goods that appeal to them visually, even when those same women have a closet full of shoes to rival my own.
In fact, shoes are a pretty good point of comparison. Men and women both wear them. But men typically see them as functional tools for walking. Women consider them necessary, delightful accessories. They are mood boosters, a form of personal expression, and indulgence that sometimes borders on obsession. Men tend to own two or three pairs. Women often own dozens or even hundreds. Making shoes appealing to women sells shoes because women control the money. Is there some reason the same logic does not apply to technology?
When the computer design room is full of women, I think we will see a sudden flurry of innovation in technology. I don’t even think we can imagine what that innovation will look like any more than someone who has never seen anything but work boots can imagine why a woman would spend so much money on a pair of Jimmy Choo stilettos she only wears occasionally. Though there is no denying Jimmy Choo (and hundreds of other designers) sells shoes.
I look forward to the day when my choices for storage technology, music players, bluetooth headsets, and laptops are as tempting and varied as my choices of shoes are now. Until then, I vote with my dollars. I buy – and cover — technology that comes a little closer to my aesthetic, appeals to my need to fit a lot into my day, and that doesn’t destroy my living room.
D’ailleurs, lors de ma transition, j’ai très vite remarqué que la pochette de transport de mon blackberry était très pratique à porter à une ceinture d’homme, mais qu’elle devenait complètement déficiente à être accroché à ma sacoche. C’est que la sonnerie ne se fait entendre qu’à partir de la 3e et que les deux premières sont des vibrations. Accroché à ma sacoche ce n’est pas très pratique disons…