As designers, we have the capability to influence how the world is shaped. Gender quality is important to consider when designing products and systems.
“Our widely adopted, unisex design approach, that uses the standard (western) male, to design our spaces, cars, and algorithms around is letting women down. It has led Google Translate to believe “doctor” is male. It makes women 47% more likely to get seriously injured in a car crash, and it enables voice recognition software to 70% more accurately recognize male speech than female speech”
– Caroline Criado-Pérez, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
Male bias is strongly ingrained in our society; however, it is the twenty-first century, and it is time to recognize that women do drive cars now, and they are doctors, police officers, and firefighters. Let us change the design process accordingly, and design for all. To design better products, diversity in design teams is important to have. Having people of different genders and ethnicities on a design team allows us to uncover hidden biases and break social norms. The more diversity on a team, the fewer gaps we have.
As a designer, I wanted to explore and investigate male-dominated occupations to see how they provide personal protective equipment (PPE) for their female workers. There are many female officers on active duty working at the frontlines to protect our society and are put in great danger on the daily. The body armour they wear is designed for ‘standard’ male bodies. Wearing these vests can be uncomfortable for women and can raise significant safety and health issues. It can leave larger areas of the body unprotected, hindering movement, and putting strain on organs in the female bodies.
ENHANCING BODY ARMOUR For Female Police Officers
ADIRA: Active-Duty Impact Resistance Armour
ADIRA is a Type 1 Classified Body Armour for female police officers. Providing optimal protective coverage, maximizes mobility and fits female officers comfortably. Allowing officers to complete their tasks and not have to worry that they are wearing an ill fitted personal protection equipment (PPE).
ADIRA is a Type 1 Classified Body Armour for female police officers. Providing optimal protective coverage, maximizes mobility and fits female officers comfortably. Allowing officers to complete their tasks and not have to worry that they are wearing an ill fitted personal protection equipment (PPE).
Design Process
The design process behind ADIRA involved extensive experimentation and testing in order to provide proof of concept. Early stages included broad academic research and multi-stage of prototyping. Once the groundwork had been laid, ideation began with sketching and half scale three-dimensional prototypes. For prototyping purposes, I followed the ASTM E3003 − 15 Standard Practice for Body Armor Wearer Measurement and Fitting of Armor has well has the ASTM D5585 − 11 Standard Body Measurements of Adult Females, using the measurements of a 60th percentile female. Keeping in mind that each female is shaped differently therefore throughout this process I came up with a custom measuring system for this garment. Prototypes were evaluated at every stage and assessed for form, function, and design features using a design evaluation matrix. The information from these tests influenced the resulting prototypes and design direction.
The design process behind ADIRA involved extensive experimentation and testing in order to provide proof of concept. Early stages included broad academic research and multi-stage of prototyping. Once the groundwork had been laid, ideation began with sketching and half scale three-dimensional prototypes. For prototyping purposes, I followed the ASTM E3003 − 15 Standard Practice for Body Armor Wearer Measurement and Fitting of Armor has well has the ASTM D5585 − 11 Standard Body Measurements of Adult Females, using the measurements of a 60th percentile female. Keeping in mind that each female is shaped differently therefore throughout this process I came up with a custom measuring system for this garment. Prototypes were evaluated at every stage and assessed for form, function, and design features using a design evaluation matrix. The information from these tests influenced the resulting prototypes and design direction.
Once confident in the construction method at half-scale, full-scale prototypes were created which allowed for user testing. Prototypes needed to fulfill functional requirements including: durability, fits the anthropomorphic characteristics of female body, air circulation, light weight, and user friendly. Testing of near-final prototypes was conducted both in person through fit, comfort and movement analysis, as well as through computer simulation which provided key insights that informed the final design.
ADIRA’s Sizing Chart considers 3 different measurement categories including the body, upper torso, and bra size, following the industry standers for each category. Including this in-depth sizing chart in my design was important to me because one size does not fit all, we must design for all shapes and sizes. It is crucial that when working in a high-risk environment these primary users are able to purchase body armour that fits their body properly. These 3 different measurement categories ensure that there is more variation in sizing and female officers can receive a garment that is custom to their body.
Design Report
