Lady Geek

A recent report called “Women and Digital Lifestyles in the US” highlights not only the importance of the female dollar in the tech sector but specifically the way women and children choose their tech products.

More US women download TV shows than men (15% compared to 11% of men).   More women use their DVR’s than men (9.3 times per week compared to 8.3% of men).   And of these segments, women with children make up the greatest proportion of frequent users.

I think many tech companies overlook women with children and go for the corporate professional woman with time and money.  This is a mistake. Whilst doing the most recent Lady Geek study, I met mums who became gamers whilst on maternity leave, usually DS or PSP players.

Mums need a quick fix, something to do when baby is having a nap: Especially something that can be paused or finished quickly. Films are too long, daytime TV too dull.  An episode of Desperate Housewives streamed to my portable device is great.  A 10 minute game on my DS is just perfect.

As a mum, I know that every minute of my time is spoken for.  Whilst on the phone, I simultaneously need to make baby’s bottle.  I order my shopping online at the same time as I feed my baby. Women also want entertainment technology  that keeps their brain’s active while attending to life’s many duties.

Nintendo are unarguably the kings of ‘snack gaming’ – however their positioning does not stress the pick-up, put-down-ability of their products. Microsoft’s XBOX 360 has the most technically sophisticated video download store but their prodcut selection does not address the preferences of a modern woman – nor are most mums going to be able to watch a whole movie within the arbitrary 24 hour window they impose.

What I’m trying to show here is that only small fixes are required to make today’s technology more mum-friendly – it’s a really easy win.