Most of the world wasn’t built with women in mind. And it shows.

We’re used to thinking about “women’s issues” as pay gaps or representation in leadership. But the truth is deeper: entire industries have failed to design for women’s real needs. Not out of malice, but out of default -  a male default that still shapes our everyday lives.

Here are just a few examples:

🚗 Automotive

Cars are created for male bodies and needs. Safety features and tests historically run on male crash dummies. Result? Women are 47% more likely to be seriously injured in a car accident. Comfort features, seat sizes, even driving ergonomics were and are still built today around the male body. 

🏥 Healthcare

Medicine has a long history of excluding women from medical research or clinical trials. Health issues present differently in women — especially heart attacks — yet research still skews male. Female specific diseases are ignored and defined “natural” while similar issues in men get immediate solutions. Add to that medical devices for women that haven’t evolved in over 100 years (think speculums or breast pumps), and you get a system that literally hurts women.

🏋️ Fitness

Gyms are stocked with machines designed around male bodies. For women, that means equipment that strains the entire body, ignores anatomy, and most often prevents women from developing their muscle mass, which is key to health and longevity.  Women are expected to “be tough”, adapt to the machine, not the other way around. 

🖥️ Tech

Voice recognition software was originally trained on male voices, making women’s speech harder to recognize. Early smartphones were too large for many women’s hands. Even now, algorithms in everything from job sites to AI tools reflect male bias baked into the data.

💼 Workplaces

The modern office was designed in the 1950s for men in suits. Temperature settings, daily schedule, pay and promotion structures, parental leave policies – just to name a few - all reflect an old male-centric model of work that today is not much evolved and doesn’t fit neither women nor younger men who have different life expectations.

Why This Matters

These aren’t “women’s issues.” They’re design failures. They create risk, inefficiency, and missed opportunities. 

Industries that fix these failures don’t just win women. They win the future. A car safer for women is safer for everyone. Healthcare that includes women is more accurate. Workplaces that fit women fit humans better, period.

The Way Forward

Industries that succeed tomorrow will be those that see women are half the population and work force, the majority of consumers, and the decision-makers behind 80% of household spending.

At WeWill, we call it what it is: smart business. Design for women, and you design better for everyone.