Ethics In Design: A Practical Guide
In our daily lives, we are heavily influenced by the devices and digital products we use. From social media likes to flash sales to news alerts, throughout the day, the information and interfaces we encounter shape how we think, act and feel.
Influential products exist to create profits for the companies that own and develop them. Engaged users aren’t just a sign of great UX—from a business standpoint, they signal more profits, more market share.
A successful product with engaged users isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Products and their users can have a mutually rewarding relationship, where the product derives revenue from its users, who in turn derive important benefits from the product. A clear win-win formula, and one that has been central to commerce throughout the ages.
The problem arises when companies—and the designers who work for them—actively set out to make their products addictive and influential to a harmful degree. Because modern lives are regulated, surveilled and shaped by the devices in users’ hands and homes, designers have a moral responsibility to design for good—to design ethically.
Yet, it can be incredibly challenging to define what ethical design decisions look like in practice. In many design projects, the ethical dimension appears to be a murky grey area that brings more doubts than decisions to the design process. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way.
In this Master Class webinar, Guthrie Weinschenk will show you how to really know if the products and services you create are ethical. You’ll learn:
- How to identify an ethical nudge versus an unethical manipulation
- What nudges, mandates, coercions and manipulations are, and how they differ from each other
- A formula to calculate how ethical your products and services are
- Behavioral science methods and techniques that inform unethical (and quasi-ethical) tactics
- The 4 ways that prevent organizations from using these tactics
- Real-world examples of ethical and unethical design decisions
Ethical design has always been a moral imperative—but it is quickly becoming much more than that. With privacy regulations such as GDPR, laws governing the right to repair and changing industry standards for inclusion and accessibility, designers need to be trained in ethical design practices to secure their own futures and to build products for the betterment of all.
Learn how to get started in this practical webinar—even if you cannot attend it live, register to get access to a recording to watch anytime afterwards!
Speaker
Guthrie Weinschenk is a Behavioral Economist and the COO of The Team W, Inc.
He has a degree in Economics, a law degree, and is a licensed attorney. He consults, teaches, and specializes in business strategy, behavioral economics, and ethics. He is the host of the podcast Human Tech and author of I Love You, Now Read This Book. (It's About Human Decision Making and Behavioral Economics).
You can follow Guthrie's work on The Team W website or on Instagram @guthrieweinschenk
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