The below considerations are my personal motivations for starting the project: Lived experience-based Weighted Voting Mechanism Design.

I share my lived experience with you to make a start on dismantling the idea of 'normal' or 'mainstream' as useful when referring to experience. What if when planning a conference, a community member reflected on their lack of experience of being marginalised at any events. Instead gave their seat at the planning table to somebody who had had this experience? This doesn't mean that everyone at the table would have experience of being marginalised, but rather that there would be a balance. As part of the work, we will look at how valuing experiences like mine can work to design inclusive spaces for everyone.

My Story:

Armed with a quietly spinning toy, noise-reducing earplugs, a bottle of water, notebooks, pens and a well-studied conference plan, I believed I was prepared to listen to the talks at a popular London crypto conference 15 months ago. Dear reader, I was not prepared. Fluorescent, moving lights got me cowering in my seat, and a surprise wave of loud music made me tightly press my headphones to my head while suppressing the urge to start rocking. I may or may not have started humming…

I have reasons to believe that this was not a common conference experience. But the lack of response to my feedback and - importantly - to my multiple refund requests suggests that this was not an experience that the event organisers were worried about. Why should they? Loud music, fluorescent lights or lasers, are not uncommon at web3 conferences or events. And so is the fact that many participants look similar and seem to have similar beliefs and views. Or maybe it’s not a fact and just my perception? Let me ask you this: have you ever experienced the whirlwind of thoughts when you start a conversation during a post-conference social event and are frantically trying to figure out if you should recognise your interlocutors in case they were the head talk speakers, panellists, or your LinkedIn contacts? Anyone?

As a “mildly” disabled* but extra queer person, I always feel out of place at networking events, be it academic or industry ones. Which brings me back to the question: why would event organisers want to know about the experiences of people similar to mine? Or in general, why designers and decision-makers should listen to the minority voices? I believe the most important reasons belong to the following not mutually exclusive categories: ethical/moral convictions, legal or industry rules, virtue signalling, financial gain and ability to evolve with the market. And if you’d like to learn more about them, please talk to us, or support our research.

(*) I do not advocate for the use of the term “mildly disabled”. What I meant is “disabled person with low access needs”, but this didn’t flow well in the sentence. This is the moment when I will play the immigrant card here, and explain that English is not my first language. Also, I’m a mathematician and - most clearly - not a gifted writer in any language.