The title comes from an old Saturn commercial that I thought was just great. Woman did her homework, wants to buy a car and not haggle over the price. She’s looking for a good drive, salesman assumes she would care more about the vanity mirror. Salesman looks buffoonish.
This [Signals vs. Noise entry](http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/software_for_women.php) from over a month ago entitled Software for Women? has had some interesting comments. Not to mention the appropriate [rebuttal](http://www.misbehaving.net/2005/11/i_have_no_words.html).
It doesn’t surprise me that [37signals](http://www.37signals.com) would raise the issue in this way:
>Doesnt it feel like most software is designed for men? I cant quite put my figure on it, but it has something to do with the icons, the colors, the tone, and the overall structure.
It’s hysterical considering today’s trend towards pastel colors, rounded corners, simplified menus, big fonts, white space, and candy-apple icons. What makes software designed for women? Pink and flowers? Built-in Midol?
Software isn’t designed *for* men (unless it has something to do with a body part that the genders don’t have in common). It’s designed *by* men, likely by a large margin. So what? It only matters if you’re the kind of company that tends to design software only for the mirror image of yourself. ‘Nuff said.
Judi Sohn 
One response to “But does it have a mirror so you can check your makeup?”
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