Playing stupid, caring for users, and putting on a good show: Feminist acts in usability study work

As a feminist HCI agenda develops, feminist analyses of behaviour must venture beyond the dominant liberal feminist approach to include other feminist approaches. Using the personal narrative or auto-ethnographic method, this article explores the role of gender in usability work, a common research practice in HCI. In this article, the author interprets three gendered behaviours that occur in usability work – playing stupid, caring for and about users, and putting on a good show – demonstrating that while these behaviours appear anti-feminist in a liberal feminist framework, they appear feminist in alternative feminist frameworks, such as relational/care-giving, sex-positive, multicultural, post-colonial and Third Wave. The article demonstrates how a feminist HCI agenda that embraces the multiplicity of feminisms necessarily forces a re-examination of usability work’s relationship to both feminism and HCI research methods.

► Analysis gendered behaviour in usability work from different feminist frameworks.
► Three behaviours examined: playing stupid, caring for users, putting on a good show.
► Research method is reflexive narrative/personal narrative or auto-ethnography.
► Argues that feminisms other than liberal are relevant for HCI feminist agenda.