For some strange reason, companies spend tens of thousands of dollars on market research, only to ignore the data in favor of their own long held assumptions about a market. No where is this more evident than in products marketed to women, where you often find that marketers tend to look at women and think pink, feminine, and silly. Sarah Haskins has made a career out of lampooning these ideas; the Femme Den, featured in Fast Company's Masters of Design issue, have dedicated their careers to stopping the madness. Consisting of members Whitney Hopkins, Agnete Enga, Erica Eden, and Yvonne Lin, the Den writes white papers, presents data, and points out where stereotypes superseded common sense:

Companies recognize the need, but most are clumsy — if not patronizing — in their attempts to address it. This often leads to what the Femme Den calls the "shrink it and pink it" reflex, the kind of mindless design that produces such works of genius as mini pink tool kits and Dell's pastel-saturated Della Web site, stocked with tips about "finding recipes" and "counting calories." (Dell dumped Della within two weeks of its launch.) What women really want, the Femme Den argues, is intuitive design. In a Yale University study, 68% of men asked to program a VCR using written instructions were successful, compared to just 16% of women. That doesn't mean women are less intelligent than men (please), but that they're less tolerant of complicated interfaces — more willing to skip new tech than to slog through manuals. "Men will walk into an electronics shop and look at the white cards that list the features. Women will pick up the cameras, flip them around, and look at the buttons," Lin says. "They want to know: Is it intuitive?"

In the sidebar, "Design in Action," the Femme Den demonstrates how these assumptions could literally become quite dangerous:

Unisex skis are a major misstep: Wider hips and looser ligaments make novice women skiers nine times more likely than men to tear their ACLs. K2'S LUV WOMEN SKIS are specifically tailored to the female physique, without being hot pink.

The shift in design from stereotypical marketing to informed marketing can make a major difference in the effectiveness of a product. And, often, shifting from the idea of a male default user may actually benefit a companies bottom line:

When Cardinal Health, the $12 billion health-care-supply company, wanted to rethink the design of hospital scrubs in 2007, balancing the needs of both sexes helped set its product apart. "Probably 70% of the health-care population wearing scrubs is female," says Carl Hall, Cardinal's director of marketing. "But scrubs are really designed for men. Smart Design identified the gender thing early on as an opportunity and helped us really evolve that." Endura scrubs, introduced in March, swapped out V-necks for stretch collars, and added straps and snaps to make the hem and rise adjustable, breathable mesh at the back and knees, as well as a kimono sleeve to increase range of motion.

And that unisex cut? "We used the female form for measurements, so the fabric doesn't strain across the bust and hips," Hopkins says. "Men don't even notice the extra room."

(Image: Christopher Sturman for Fast Company)

Separate. And Equal. [Fast Company]
Design In Action [Fast Company]

Earlier: Dell Discovers Ladies Use Computers For More Than Diet Tips

Apparently 22-year-old Dominique Fisher met 24-year-old Wayne Robinson at a Blackpool club. The two did lines together and agreed to meet up the next night, where they allegedly hooked up, did more drugs, drank a lot, and, respectively, passed out and carved name, patterns with a "Stanley knife." According to the ever-reliable Daily Mail, "Mr Robinson woke to find his body decorated with a star on his back, 'Dominique' written on his upper right arm, and slash marks on his left arm and shoulder." Upon seeing which, he freaked out and left.

She accused him of taking stuff for her apartment; he told the cops she'd carved on him. The judge made the determination that both young people were completely irresponsible and that Fisher has issues. As a result, she was found guilty of a single charge of "unlawful wounding" and walked free.

Said his honor,

"I'm quite satisfied in the time that followed in your flat both of you had a great deal to drink and took other substances, including Valium, and both of you were in no fit state to be doing anything... If you persist in drinking too much and taking drugs, strange things happen such as happened in this case and must not happen again."

There is something so elemental and primitive about the act of marking another person that such stories always arouse interest: it's no coincidence that Ashley Todd chose to mark herself with a carving (the infamous backwards B) when she was trying to arouse outrage. As in the case of Todd, and Fisher, the act of carving is seen as a symptom of real disturbance, surely because of the inherent violence, the permanence, perhaps the uncomfortable inversions of romantic tropes like initials on trees. While we are aware of cutting as an act of self-violence, it's shocking to be confronted with the act in a form we can't ignore. Maybe on some level, too, we are horrified to think of mistakes - bad decisions, regretted nights, things done under the influence — which we'd choose to regret, being forever memorialized. I'm sure this guy is.

Woman Who Carved Her Name Into Lover's Arm During Drug-Fuelled Fling Walks Free From Court [Daily Mail]

• Yet another tale of a creepy pageant mom who spends $600 a month on beauty treatments on her 11-year-old daughter. • A new study shows that women who are already "subfertile" worsen their chances of infertility by drinking coffee. • More weird studies! Adults who were born at a low birth-weight tend to leave the nest later in life. • A father in Georgia killed his 25-year-old daughter after she said she wanted to divorce the husband with whom she had an arranged marriage. • A neighboring town to Gloucester, MA mocked the towns now infamous "pregnancy pact" teens in a July Fourth Horribles parade. • Ew! A woman spent half of her day with a baby bat hiding in her bra before she noticed it. • The family of the woman who died on the floor of the Kings County Hospital psychiatric ER plans to sue the city and call for criminal charges. • Could a gene variant make women more prone to alcoholism through endorphin release? Well, it happened in some lab mice. • Two tween-aged girls are missing from a foster home in California, as is their parent's Lexus. • Violence between romantic partners is common among college students with men most likely to perpetrate sexual violence and women more likely to perpetrate physical violence. • Doctors are planning to introduce a cheaper (and less effective) form of in vitro in Africa, where infertility and a stigma attached to it can be stronger than in the West. • Cute video of the day! My favorite Japanese doggy troublemaker gets more than he bargained for when he tries to play with a pack of 5000 dachshund pups!

In fact, Rihanna's celebrity was built on the backs of advertisers: before "Umbrella" hit airwaves, the people at Totes got their mitts on it. They had the foresight to realize that it was going to be a hit, but "Rihanna and her representatives wanted Totes to do more, however, than merely use her to peddle a product. They wanted Totes to create customized umbrellas featuring sparkly fabrics and glittery charms on the handles — all recommended by the emerging star and her team. Totes also guaranteed the singer a percentage of the sales of the umbrellas." But in addition to her deal with Totes, Rihanna has branding deals with CoverGirl, Nike, J. C. Penney, Nokia and Fuze. In fact, Rihanna has so many marketing deals, she and her handlers are holding back now that she's an honest-to-goodness celebrity.

But when every brand has a celebrity endorsing it, the famous faces can start to cancel each other out, especially since now advertisers are starting to reach down into the depths of dubious fame to push product. Case in point: this commercial with Lauren Conrad and Brody Jenner for the LG Shine cell phone. With Rihanna pushing Nokia, Justin Long shilling iPhones, and David Beckham hawking the RAZR, how can Brody and L.C.'s obscure ad hope to register with consumers? Well if ad exec Steve Stoute is correct, there's room in this country for celebrities of all stripes to whore out. Stoute mentions an SUV painted a particular shade of blue. "That’s Jay-Z blue! We invented a color!" Stoute tells the Times. "There are no limits. There is no such thing as too far.” Filthy lucre for all!

Nothing Sells Like Celebrity [NYT]
Everything Seemingly Is Spinning Out Of Control [AP via Yahoo via The Doree Chronicles]