Building for the BIPOC Community

The tech industry is becoming increasingly diverse, and with that comes a growing demand for products that are relevant to users of color.  With an estimated 3.9 trillion dollar market As a product manager, it's important to be aware of the needs and preferences of this growing market.

Here are a few tips for building a product that is relevant for users of color:

1. Understand your users. Start by understanding the needs and challenges of users of color. What are their pain points? What are their priorities? What are their expectations? Once you have a good understanding of your users, you can start to design a product that meets their needs.

2. Be inclusive in your design process. Involve users of color in the design process from the beginning. This will help you to ensure that your product is relevant to their needs and experiences. You can do this by conducting user interviews, usability testing, and beta testing with users of color.

3. Use inclusive language and imagery. When you are writing about your product, use language that is inclusive of all users. Avoid using stereotypes or clichés. And when you are using images, make sure that they represent a diversity of users.

4. Be mindful of cultural differences. When you are designing a product for users of color, be mindful of cultural differences. For example, users of color may have different preferences when it comes to color, font, and layout.

5. Get feedback from users of color. Once you have designed a product, get feedback from users of color. This will help you to identify any areas where you can improve the product to make it more relevant to their needs.

6. By following these tips, you can build a product that is relevant for users of color. This will help you to reach a wider audience and to build a more inclusive product community.

Here are some additional tips for building a product that is relevant for users of color:

Conduct user research with users of color. This will help you to understand their needs and pain points. You can do this by conducting surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

Involve users of color in the design process. This will help you to ensure that the product meets their needs and is culturally appropriate. You can do this by inviting users of color to join your design team or by creating a user advisory board.

Use inclusive language and imagery throughout the product. This will help to make the product feel welcoming and inclusive to users of color. You can do this by using language that is free of stereotypes and clichés, and by using images that represent a diversity of users.

Be mindful of cultural differences when designing the product. This includes things like color preferences, font preferences, and layout preferences. You can do this by doing research on the cultural norms of the users you are targeting.

Get feedback from users of color throughout the development process. This will help you to ensure that the product is meeting their needs and is culturally appropriate. You can do this by conducting usability testing with users of color and by collecting feedback through surveys and interviews.

Contributor: Cabril DeAbreu |
06 - 07 - 2023