Feminised gadgets: An eye for the ladylike

According to The Telegraph, women spend more on gadgets than they do on shoes - on average, £391 ($771) a year. That's a total of £17 billion ($33.5 billion). Not only that, they're also driving the uptake of online video and web TV.

"The Japanese have long grasped the female approach to gadgets, and made a tidy profit from it.

When Asian telecoms firm DoCoMo commissioned a woman to design a mobile internet service, she asked women what they wanted from their phones. It proceeded to launch the most successful mobile phone service ever - i-mode - and a range of slick "clamshell" handsets that set world standards.

The (usually male) designers in the West scoffed - "too small", they said; "too feminine". Who needs cameras on mobile phones? It won't catch on here.

Wrong, boys. Today's slinky mobiles resemble the early Japanese versions.

... "Producers of male-orientated products realise the potential in the female market, but they're unsure how to tackle it, as women are under-represented in the design industry," says Erica Eden, co-founder of Femme Den, a collective of female designers. "Some believe that 'pinking and shrinking' appeals to females, but sometimes this alienates men."

"Pinking and shrinking" can alienate women, too. A survey by Saatchi & Saatchi found that only nine per cent of women think it's important their gadgets look pretty. It also found that women want gadgets with logical instructions and good technical support.

[via Shiny Shiny]

emily | 8:23 AM | Cell Phone Fashion |
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