How Design Can Support Gender and Diversity Sensitive Smart Mobility Solutions

Abstract

From June 2020, design research activities have been conducted as part of the 3 year, H2020, Pan European TInnGO project (https://www.tinngo.eu/) which aimed to create a sustainable paradigm shift in gender and diversity mainstreaming in transport. Such a shift is needed due to the lack of sex disaggregated gender data, gendered use of transport, gender gaps in employment and decision making.
This lack of diversity together with difficulties in engaging ‘hard to reach groups’ in transport planning, means transport services and innovation continue to fail to consider gender and diversity.
A central concept of TInnGO is to use design activities as ‘provocations’ to engage with people in new ways – e.g. through visualizations, vignettes and cocreation activities – to develop greater insights into mobility problems and drive gender and diversity sensitive smart mobility solutions. Signifantly disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, this became an on line activity supported by an Open Innovation Platform.
This paper draws on the experience of the TInnGO design team in their creation of over 30 design led provocations to stimulate discussion on how to create more humane cities, which are aesthetically pleasing and inclusive.