Monday, March 17, 2014

Equality in Software Enviorments


Finally, I have an excuse to buy a new 22" computer monitor! After intensive research, it was shown that a larger monitor helps women work better with a computer. This was one of the findings done by several groups of individuals who investigated the idea that the design of software has an impact on how well women interact and think about computers as a whole. Larger screens improved females' performance while males showed no real change. This topic is among several tests on how different genders interact with hardware and software. The study showed that many software aspects did not entertain to women, like video games, the term hackers, or ways that a webpage was designed. Why would it, as technology has increasingly become a synonym for unnecessary and sometimes horrific scene of sexism. Look at threats Anita Sarkeesian received when she started the Tropes vs Women in Video Games series. This culture and us with it need to change if we ever want to change the shift of females in computer science. 


3 comments:

  1. I liked the article. Good stuff.I never would have thought monitor size had any effect.

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    1. I was also surprised. I expect there are probably other simple changes that improve gender-related ease of use like backgrounds, window colors, perhaps even round vs sharp corners.

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  2. Software design has a long way to go.

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