Release July 7, 2026 · Harper Business
How We Designed a World That Leaves Women Out and How We Can Make It Right.
An industrial designer and former global creative director at Nike delivers a sharp critique of a world designed by and for men — and offers an optimistic, practical blueprint for how we can make it right.
"For decades I worked inside the rooms where design decisions get made. I saw who was considered — and who wasn't. MAN-MADE is the book I needed to write."
— Karen Korellis Reuther
From automobile crash test dummies modeled on the “average” man to surgical tools, military gear, athletic footwear, and even public restrooms, the world around us has been designed primarily by and for men. From what we wear, to what we use, to the spaces that surround us the consequences for women range from insulting to dangerous — and in some cases, deadly. In surfacing what has long been felt but not named, and by presenting the opportunities to make it right, MAN-MADE shows us how we can all play a part in building a world that fits women.
- Nearly 90% of women report difficulty finding properly fitting PPE (personal protective equipment).
- Most sneakers today are designed to fit the shape of a man’s foot, and scaled down for women, a practice called “shrink it and pink it”.
- Women working as firefighters and police officers often have no other option than men’s gear, compromising their performance and safety on the job.
- The long queues outside of women’s restrooms is no accident. It is a manifestation of inequitable design choices.
- Women receive bystander CPR 14% less often than men, less than 5% of CPR training includes a female manikin.
About Karen Korellis Reuther
Karen is an industrial designer and creative executive with decades of experience leading global consumer brands. She is currently a Design Lecturer at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design and previously served as Vice President of Creative Direction and Innovation at Reebok and Global Creative Director at NIKE, where she led major product, merchandising, and brand strategies. From 2021 to 2022, she was a Senior Fellow at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative. She worked as a creative director and brand strategy consultant in the fields of design, innovation and technology and spent many years in the design of consumer products and electronics in both the US and Germany. A popular guest lecturer and public speaker, Reuther’s work today focuses on advancing inclusive design practices and addressing gender bias in products and the built environment.
Using her work in the classroom, her scholarship endowment, and her experienced voice as a platform to raise awareness to the inequities in our built world, Karen encourages women to pursue careers in male dominated fields of design, architecture and engineering, make their voices heard, and assure that the female body is considered at every level of the design process — from data, to design, to policy. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from Purdue University and a Master’s degree in Management from Lesley University (formerly Lesley College).