While speaking with the nonbinary and transgender individuals that I interviewed, they mentioned several services that handled gender inclusivity well. I reviewed these websites to identify patterns that made for good inclusive design. These websites included LesbiansWhoTech, Facebook, and OkCupid.
With this in mind, I created Personas and User Journey Maps to better understanding the emotions and frustrations of different customers using DNA Relatives.
I focused specifically on two personas whose genotyped sex did not align with their gender identity (a trans man and a 60+ year old man whose Y chromosome has degraded). Additionally, I created a persona for an individual that I would consider to be a power user of the feature (an adoptee searching for her bio family).
What I observed from all three types of users is that they had a negative user experience when the service did not guide them through decisions that required a better understanding of DNA than what they had. For example, Fred (a trans man) could have a negative user experience if he chose to share the "DNA Segments" portion of his profile if he did not understand that other customers might be able to infer that he did not have a Y chromosome from this information.
People would like to participate in DNA Relatives to engage with potential new matches.
Transgender and nonbinary individuals may not feel comfortable or safe with how some of their information is currently shared to others.
Provide a more modular approach to sharing information so users only have to share what they are comfortable with.
Overall, the project was a success. Most of the users tested said they liked the flow and clarity of the newly designed pages. Additionally, nonbinary and transgender people interviewed stated that the updates allowed them to make more informed decisions which made them more comfortable participating in the feature.
