CAREER

A core focus of every project of a business and marketing strategist is to understand a target audience and help to shepherd their needs in whatever the outcome is of the creation or business process. Through this, I’ve become aware of the need for and the importance of accessible and inclusive design.

This often means making sure something is created so that it can be accessed through multiple modalities or has an approach that represents diversity in imagery and copy. While living as a foreigner in Japan, I’ve become acutely aware of the moments when something is designed inclusively and when there’s opportunity for improvement. However, inclusive design isn’t something people living with a disability or foreign people can benefit from. It is something everyone can, as everyone has faced a moment in life where they have been excluded. I believe the business and design community can help fix those moments.

BUSINESS

Physical attributes such as physical ability or gender or attributes given by society such as income or literacy, are often thought about in relation to inclusivity. There’s sometimes data that companies can use to help understand an audience about these topics, so there are some efforts to be more inclusive.

However, exploring where feelings of exclusion in my own life existed caused me to realize there were many instances where the data business and design professionals use to understand audiences simply wasn’t enough or didn’t exist. Therefore, if there was no data, it makes sense that companies would overlook opportunities to enhance a product and experience with more inclusive attributes.  

In an effort to help companies get to know their audiences better, I launched my own initiative, “The Curious Nail”. 

The Curious Nail consists of a book and a podcast series. The book introduces a framework, the “Inclusion Identity Framework,” to help understand aspects of inclusivity and analyze a target audience more deeply. I demonstrate how it can be used by telling personal stories of inclusion and exclusion from my life living in Japan. 

The podcast expands on the framework from the book, but explores moments of inclusion and exclusion from the perspective of others. While the podcast is in English, transcripts in English, Spanish, and Japanese are available on my website.

「 The Curious Nail who stuck out 」

VISION

Through the Curious Nail, I hope to share stories that inspire inclusivity in an effort to create the data that doesn’t exist in today’s design and business ecosystems. Through sharing stories, we create visibility and demonstrate the universal need to think inclusively. Ideally, in the future, all professional design projects will have an element of inclusive design. It not only makes the product stronger, but it also makes the world a better place.

Becoming more inclusive starts with understanding yourself. If you understand how you have personally felt excluded, you will be better able to understand someone else’s perspective. If you’re not sure where to start, I encourage you to visit the book’s final chapter. It explores questions you can ask yourself to understand to understand this more and how to become inspired to be more inclusive through your own stories. 

Eventually, I hope to translate the book into Japanese, as well as create an audiobook version in Japanese so that it has the most impact.

While the book I wrote establishes a framework to help others, the podcast is ultimately more valuable. Through the Curious Nail Podcast, the stories of others can be shared, and the diversity of inclusion can be realized. I’m interested in sharing the stories of anyone who may have felt excluded at some point in life and is willing to share it. 

As a professional, I help companies understand their target audience and design solutions with their audience. I’d love to help any company that wants to understand how the inclusion Identity Framework can apply to their business. 

 Together, we can all make the world a little bit better. 

PROFILE

Jenessa Carder is an international customer experience strategist and award-winning business transformation leader currently employed at Relativ*. Her career spans global agencies, consumer goods, entertainment, and digital innovation, blending design thinking with behavioral science. A former university professor and art director, she consults across the USA and Japan, helping organizations build accessible, people-centered strategies. Jenessa regularly speaks at industry conferences and contributes to business publications. The Curious Nail Who Stuck Out is her first independent book, offering fresh perspectives on inclusion, innovation, and Japanese culture. Personally, Jenessa enjoys studying Japanese kimonos and textiles, skiing, dance, and traveling. Jenessa's professional presence is also known as Express Anything, because she believes that through curiosity, anything can be expressed.

Nationality: USA
Homework: Dallas, Texas, USA
Undergraduate: Savannah College of Art & Design (Savannah, Georgia, USA)
Graduate: Emerson College (Bosotn, Massachusetts, USA)

▼ Company
https://relativ.com/

▼ Book (link will redirect)
https://thecuriousnail.com/

▼ Podcast
https://open.spotify.com/show/5cbIJoMAs2cpQ3EELAy4Td?si=7450e90dbb3342c6

▼ LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/expressanything/