8 tactics for gender-inclusivity in your forms 📋

#4. Practical approaches to enhance inclusivity and user experience

Sep 25, 2024

— Weekly impact

Hey 👋

The other day, I was browsing a hospitality website and encountered a mandatory gender field with only two options: male or female. It struck me how exclusionary this was. What if someone doesn’t identify with either? This simple limitation could prevent potential clients from creating an account, leading to lost business opportunities.

Forms are everywhere—product registrations, sign-ups, HR applications, and more. When collecting gender information, it’s crucial to do it right. Today, we’ll explore how to make your forms gender-inclusive, ensuring you don’t unintentionally alienate potential customers or users.

“Diversity and Inclusion is a competitive advantage that a smart leader would not overlook.” – Brian Ka Chan, human rights activist

— Did you know?

1 in 5 Gen Zers in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ
70% of non-LGBTQ individuals believe that companies should publicly support diversity through hiring, advertising, and sponsorships.

Read the article

— Why this should matter to you

A well-designed form impacts the individual who needs to fill it out to access your app, product, service, or applicant pool. It can either act as a barrier or provide a seamless digital experience.

It's important to remember that we are engaging with real people, not just abstract "buyer personas" or "target audiences." By placing people at the center of our efforts and considering how they define themselves, we can create more inclusive marketing strategies and tactics. Inclusive marketing is beneficial for businesses and organizations. Even if a comprehensive DEI strategy isn't fully established, incremental improvements can still be made at every level, including MarCom.

Inclusive marketing can help:

Increase registration rates
Retain customers
Attract new customers

— Take action

Remove the gender field: Do you really need this piece of data? How is it going to serve your marketing and growth strategy? If you can't answer that, consider leaving it out because you're unlikely to use it in the near future.
Have more than 2 options but avoid "other": Offer more than just "male" and "female" but steer clear of the term "other," which can feel alienating.
Consider using pronouns: Allow users to specify their pronouns to create a more inclusive environment.
Make the gender field optional: If you include a gender field, make it optional to respect everyone's comfort level.
Provide an explanation: Clearly explain why you're collecting gender data and how you'll use it. Providing context to your form field will help increase trust and reassure those who fill in the form. The lack of context on data collection can lead to distrust and make your customers unwilling to share their personal info.
Use a free text field with auto-suggest: This allows for personalized responses and respects diverse identities without forcing reclassification. Although it might be complicated to leverage the data in segmentation, you can still apply reclassification rules. Ensure the data remains usable afterward to avoid losing customers.
Add gender-inclusive honorifics: Include options like "Mx" alongside traditional titles.
Use neutral language: For example, use "parents/guardians" instead of "mother/father" or "child/youth" instead of "son/daughter."

— Real-world & practical examples

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative - Recruitment application form

Etsy - User profile // Air France - User profile

This is the end of this post. Let me know in the comments how you manage gender inclusivity in your forms and if this content was helpful by taking the poll. Thank you! See you in the next post. ✌️😊