Ethics: A human-centered design goal

Karen Bachmann
karen@designforcontext.com
@karenbachmann
Ethics: A human-centered design goal
UXPA 2017 Toronto
#UXPA2017 #DesignEthics

@design4context Ethical Design UXPA 2017
● Ethics and related concepts
● Different ways to talk about ethics and share a positive message
● Building business and professional case for ethical outcomes as design
goals
● Ideas for making ethics a core part of our design practices
What we’ll be discussing
2

@design4context Ethical Design UXPA 2017 3
“AND ETHICS IS SUCH A NEGATIVE SUBJECT.”
Many people believe that embracing ethics would limit their
options, their opportunities, their very ability to succeed in
business.
John C. Maxwell, Ethics 101
(CEO considering ethics as a topic for a sales meeting)

Empathy Ethics
4
Ethics has a PR problem. Empathy, though related, doesn’t.

Empathy
● A “method of data gathering
about… humans”
● The basis of ethics; makes “ethical
life possible"
Ethics
● A philosophy that governs actions
informed by empathy among other
inputs from the “ecology”
● Standard of expected behavior that
guides the correct course of action
5

Ethics
6
Morality
Legality
the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group;
a guiding philosophy
of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior;
conforming to a standard of right behavior
attachment to or observance of law
Definitions from https://www.merriam-webster.com/

A progression for doing good?
7
LawsNorms/CodesEthicsValues/morals

Applied Ethics
8
Applied ethics is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions
specific to a professional, disciplinary, or practical field. Subsets of
applied ethics include medical ethics, bioethics, business ethics, legal
ethics, and others.
Applied ethics is the philosophical examination, from a moral
standpoint, of particular issues in private and public life which are
matters of moral judgment. It is thus the attempts to use philosophical
methods to identify the morally correct course of action in various fields
of everyday life.
Definitions from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Applied_ethics and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_ethics

Code of ethics WIKIPEDIA
“PROFESSIONAL
ETHICS”
Most professionals
have internally
enforced codes of
practice that
members of the
profession must
follow to prevent
exploitation of the
client and to
preserve the
integrity of the
profession.

Code of design ethics? RELATED CODES
● AIGA
● HFES
● ACM
● IEEE
All focus on business
conduct and some for
research, not guidance
for ethical design.
Useful, but incomplete.

● APA Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, specifically
section 8, “Research and Publication”
● The Little Book of Design Research Ethics (IDEO)
● But what about ongoing data collection and data science?
…most of the activities we call “data science” fall outside of those
regulations, and data science receives little in the way of prior
ethics review.
Clear guidance for user research?
11
https://points.datasociety.net/ethics-review-for-pernicious-feedback-loops-9a7ede4b610e

So what?

● Ensure that the human need and benefit is considered fully in our work.
●Consider the full human context, including implications for technology
over time and social ecosystem.
●Mitigate the thrill of the “new.”
● Counter the emphasis on technology over humanity and the primacy of
"data" over people.
● Ensure that human stories accompany qualitative data or other tools that
diminish the visibility of actual people.
● Ethics can provide a pragmatic path to supporting these goals and the
conversations around them.
Why should UX professionals care?
13

CONSIDER ETHICS WHEN DESIGNING NEW TECHNOLOGIES
What is needed is strong, anticipatory guidance by those who
intersect the technology, health and ethics worlds to
determine how we develop and deploy technologies that
deliver the greatest societal benefits.
Christie and Yach, TechCrunch
Reacting to Facebook’s dilemma with fake news
https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/31/consider-ethics-when-designing-new-technologies/

Making ethics a design goal
● A business case
● A professional case

vs.

All too easy
to find
examples of
unethical
behavior
https://www.fastcodesign.com/3066
586/the-year-dark-patterns-won

● Need to think ethically in a larger scale, not just "treat your participants
well" and "avoid dark patterns"
● Move away from focusing on the cost of being caught being unethical,
illegal, non-compliant because it encourages only the minimum
● Avoid the fatigue of negativity by only telling the cautionary stories or
focusing on shocking failures
Focus on the “stick” is not enough

● Business and professional value
● Ability to measure success gained as a result of ethical practices, not
penalties avoided
● A stance of opportunity and growth, not constraint and stagnation
Consider the “carrot” ethical design offers

Companies with good ethical policies earn:
● Marketing advantages over their competitors. Customers readily invest in the companies
through shares and also want to establish long lasting business relations with the company.
● The performance of employees improves with good ethical policies present in a company.
Morale is high and employees feel obligated to put in their all to continue to make it a
success.
● Reputation management: a bad reputation is created by unethical behaviour which will
eventually lead to a scandal. A scandal will result in falling stock prices, anxiety, and low
morale among employees as well as government and public scrutiny and inquests.
● Legal and financial incentives: companies known for their high ethical standards and
education of employees on ethical polices are provided with strong legal and financial
incentives by regulatory bodies.
Support: SixSigma Online
20
http://www.sixsigmaonline.org/six-sigma-training-certification-information/the-importance-and-advantages-of-good-business-ethics/

● It reduces business liability.
● It helps employees make good decisions.
● It assures high-quality customer service.
● It prevents costly administrative errors and rework.
● It consistently grows the bottom line.
Support: National Ethics Association
21
https://www.ethics.net/a/five-benefits-of-ethical-leadership

A better motivation for inspiring ethical behavior is the benefits it
provides, both personally and financially. Besides feeling good about
doing the right thing, principled business conduct can also be profitable.
Ethical behavior is good business.
Four key benefits:
● Easier accounting – real numbers and honest account is easier than
maintaining falsified records
● Better branding – creates trust with employees, suppliers and customers
● Improved bottom line – retain customers, earn high ratings, and gain
referrals
● Better health – Reduce stress and feel better about your business
Support: Steve Parrish in Forbes
22
https://www.forbes.com/sites/steveparrish/2016/02/04/the-profit-potential-in-running-an-ethical-business/#654f4a9e7687

QUOTING JAMES BURKE
If you invested $30,000 in a composite of the Dow Jones thirty
years ago, it would be worth $134,000 today. If you had put
that $30,000 into these [socially and ethically responsible]
firms - $2,000 into each of the fifteen [in the study] – it would
now be worth over $1 million.
John C. Maxwell, Ethics 101
Chairman of Johnson and Johnson

DESIGNER’S RESPONSIBILITY
If your company is just in it for the money, maybe you should
look for a better company.
It’s not your fault, but it is your responsibility.
Alan Cooper
Do the ethics of your employers align with yours?
https://www.slideshare.net/secret/8EVFuubtAzkpkh

● Technology is changing faster than ever, and that can lead to fear,
uncertainty, doubt, anger, and unrest.
● Examples abound in the tech industry of unethical behavior, arrogance,
and lack of empathy. Culture and leadership have reputation for being
unethical.
● Technology is not neutral, but too often we jump into the new and the
cool before considering the ramifications.
● Ethical decisions are often not starkly good or bad, but nuances of
behavior and habits. Just walking away isn’t the answer.
● Why not lead through design?
Ethics is needed in tech
25

● Understand your values and adopt an ethical stance that embodies them
before you reach a crisis.
● “Be conscious and aware of what you’re endorsing with your time, not
only for the welfare of others but for your own sense of self. The work you
choose to take on defines you.” - Stephen P. Anderson
● Establish what it means to do good, not merely avoid doing harm.
Consider context as well as tactics.
Know your ethical boundaries
26
http://uxmag.com/articles/towards-an-ethics-of-persuasion?page=43

● Support and bolster your colleagues’ ethical practice
●Share case studies and techniques
●Adhere to and promote ethical design practices
●Amplify successes
● Protect the integrity of the profession by setting a standard of ethical
design practices as the norm
Promote professional boundaries
27

Tools for ethical design
If it's not ethical, it cannot be beautiful.
Yves Behar

● Design programs with ethics in the curriculum
● Code of ethical design
● Design and research “hygiene”
● Ethical design methodologies, heuristics, guidelines, practices
Do we have the tools?
29

Scenarios, role playing?
30
● Trolley problem:
Break failure while
in motion
● Two choices, but
both are deadly
● Unrealistic
qualifiers
WHO DIES?
MIT Moral Machine Project: http://moralmachine.mit.edu/

● In design, more
than dark
patterns! In
research, more
than session
decorum.
● Similar to HBR
issues articles that
explored real,
nuanced
situations.
● No absolute right
or wrong or even
catastrophic
failure – but a cost
to be weighed.
CASE STUDIES
MIT Moral Machine Project: http://moralmachine.mit.edu/
Scenarios, role playing?

● New thinking: Cradle-to-cradle or closed loop design thinking
● Biomimicry, nature as inspiration
● Focus on human and ecosystem benefit and betterment
● Focus on design over time and evolving scenarios
Rethinking how we design
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Reference: http://sustainableux.com/.

● Product definition
● Product vision
● Who and When
● Benefits and Harms
● Trade-offs
Ethical Design Protocol
Detailed article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ethical-design-protocol-exploring-full-effects-our-work-bachmann

Ethical Design Protocol
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Applying the protocol: Exercise app
● Definition: A native mobile app that
● Tracks physical activity using platform tools
● Reminds users to exercise at specified intervals based on health
● Suggests new exercises periodically
● Connects to social media to create accountability with connections
● Vision: To help increase health and foster healthy habits in a sedentary
population
35

Applying the protocol: Exercise app
● Who?
● Directly affected
● Indirectly affected
● What is one benefit gained by someone in each group?
● Initially
● After using the product over time
● What is one harm those same people might experience?
● Initially
● After using the product over time
● Can the harm be mitigated? Does it require a trade-off against a benefit?
36

Instead of a designer code of ethics…
consider a users’ bill of rights!

Example: Computer User’s Manifesto
BY DR. CLAIRE-MARIE KARAT AS SHARED BY THEO MANDEL
● The user is always right. If there is a problem
with the use of the system, the system is the
problem, not the user.
● The user has the right to easily install
software and hardware systems.
● The user has the right to a system that
performs exactly as promised.
● The user has the right to easy-to-use
instructions for understanding and utilizing a
system to achieve desired goals.
● The user has the right to be in control of the
system and to be able to get the system to
respond to a request for attention.
● The user has the right to a system that provides
clear, understandable, and accurate
information regarding the task it is performing
and the progress toward completion.
● The user has the right to be clearly informed
about all system requirements for successfully
using software or hardware.
● The user has the right to know the limits of the
system’s capabilities.
● The user has the right to communicate with the
technology provider and receive a thoughtful
and helpful response when raising concerns.
● The user should be the master of software and
hardware technology, not vice-versa. Products
should be natural and intuitive to use.theomandel.com/resources/users-bill-of-rights

Design principle User has a right …
Digestibility Not to work too hard to accomplish their goals
Digestibility To have their goals and their time respected
Clarity To understand exactly what they are getting
Clarity To be respected
Trust To be informed and in control
Familiarity To be oriented from the moment they start using a product
Familiarity To have their prior experience and knowledge respected
Delight To have an enjoyable experience
Delight To have an effortless (or appropriate effort) experience
Delight To have the UI disappear into the context of their work
Adapt design principles into user rights
39
From a blog post by InVision: http://blog.invisionapp.com/ux-principles-to-guide-your-product-design/

Other ideas or examples?

● Understand where ethics fits in our work and with other influences
on design practice
● Able to establish business and professional cases for ethical design
● Gained some tools and techniques to incorporate ethical decision-
making in you design practice
● Increased awareness about the value of and role for ethics in the
profession
Takeaways
41

The BIG takeaway!
DRAWING FOR ATTENDEES

Karen Bachmann
karen@designforcontext.com
@karenbachmann
Ethics: A human-centered design goal
UXPA 2017 Toronto
#UXPA2017 #DesignEthics
Presentation will be posted on Slideshare and available at www.designforcontext.com/insights

In the past year, I’ve read a tremendous amount of articles on ethics, design, and related topics. I am happy
to share my full reading list, but here are some that I found especially insightful for this specific talk.
● Mark B. Baer, Esq. “The Connection Between Empathy Toward Others and Ethics,” Psychology Today
● Cennydd Bowles, “Ethics in the AI Age,” presented at IxDA 2017
● Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan, “The Year Dark Patterns Won,” Co.Design
● Gillian Christie and Derek Yach, Consider ethics when designing new technologies
● Samantha Dempsey and Ciara Taylor, Designer’s Oath
● Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Empathy and Sympathy in Ethics”
● John C Maxwell, Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs to know
● #uxchat on Twitter “Embedding Ethics into Design,” hosted by What Users Do
● Sara Wachter-Boettcher and Eric Meyer, Design for Real Life
● Thomas Wendt, "Empathy as Faux Ethics”
Selected Readings and References
44

Ethics: A human-centered design goal

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