“Herstory Cards,” an educational app by Carolina Mandia, is a virtual encyclopedia of important women in history. The program features figures from areas such as art, writing, mathematics and biology. The app offers information on trailblazers like Frida Kahlo and Harriet Tubman and lesser-known pioneers such as Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
The application is relatively simple to use. In order to read about a specific woman, users either click on one of the many cards on the home screen or type the name of the woman they are looking for into the search bar. A small blurb about the figure is then pulled up, detailing her accomplishments and other small tidbits about her life. If the reader would like to learn more about the figure, they simply click “read more,” and the app takes them to a Google search of the woman.
When in the app, users can click on the cog symbol to read Mandia’s motivation in creating “Herstory.”
“Sometimes [it] is hard to remember quickly from the top of your mind names of women in several fields of knowledge, not because there is few but due to they’re simply overlooked,” according to the app. “I do believe people need to read, study and listen more to what women from all areas and backgrounds have to say. This app has the idea of being a visual[ly] appealing database to people quickly search for a reference to women who have made Herstory.”
Although the app has great intentions, it does not deliver a very in-depth experience, nor does it seem very credible. There are no citations, so there is no way of knowing if what is being read is correct. The app is also not very complex, so users are restricted to scrolling through profiles that are listed on the home screen or searching names they already know. This would make it difficult using the app for a research paper or something similar, not only because they cannot be sure if their information is reliable, but because there is no organization.
“Herstory” is a great conversation tool, and has a great purpose — educating others on women in history. However, it is not structurally sound enough to be considered a high-quality app.
_Edited by Siena DeBolt | sdebolt@themaneater.com_
