IxDA Berlin:Design ethics as inspirationCharlie Mulholland - 6 February 2012Amsterdam University of Applied ScienceDepartment of Communication & Multimedia Design

Outline

• A bit about my background• The basic premise of this talk• Ethics and IxD: problem or

opportunity?• Some ethical tools that can be used

for inspiration

My basic premise

In the coming years, IxD’ers are likely to come under increasing pressure to take (at least some) responsibility for the moral issues raised by the products they design

Why do I believe this?

Technology mediates our experience of the world…

… it affects how we understand & interact with the world…

Source: Ihde, D. (1990). Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth. Indiana University Press.

…and (thus) it mediates how we (can) act on the world

Source: Charlie Mulholland

…and (thus) it mediates how we (can) act on the world

Source: Aranea Felëus

…so it influences our behaviour by allowing or denying us choices…

Source: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by cogdogblog: http://flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5026449698/

…sometimes this is not problematic…

Source: cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by kitch: http://flickr.com/photos/kitch/3288387680/

…but sometimes it is (even if it is an unintended consequence)…

Source: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by salimfadhley: http://flickr.com/photos/salimfadhley/96770312/

…and sometimes this influence is problematic and deliberate

Source: http://darkpatterns.org/library/privacy_zuckering/

The thing is…

…your work is becoming more and more pervasive…

Source: cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by Peter Morville: http://flickr.com/photos/morville/4531186726/

…and people have started to worry about their privacy…

Source: Charlie Mulholland

…their ability to escape…

Source: https://twitter.com/noazark/status/293194207265447937/photo/1 Noah Zerkin

Okay, I know who you are

now, let’s see what ads I can target you with!

…maybe their freedom!

Source: cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by miss karen: http://flickr.com/photos/misbehave/2352753067/

Moral questions are coming coming to the agenda

So ethics & IxD: problem or opportunity?

Source: cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by aussiegall: http://flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/276131991/

Ethical questions, like design problems, are wicked problems

Source: Charlie Mulholland

Thinking about ethics adds more complexity of the design process

Source: Charlie Mulholland

However, there is another less cynical, but realistic approach• Embrace ethics as a

source of inspiration for:– Research,

sensemaking & reframing

– Ideation– Definition of

requirements– Selection & road

mapping– Detailed design

Some ethical tools that can be used for inspiration

(as well as for assessing the impact of your work!)

The ethical cycle

Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

The ethical cycle and research, sensemaking & reframing

Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

The ethical cycle and ideation

Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

The ethical cycle and defining requirements

Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

Virtues & vices

Design patterns and detailed design

Persuasion

Source: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

Nudges

Source: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by methodshop.com: http://flickr.com/photos/methodshop/2483875119/

Scripts

Source: http://id.hva.nl

What type of pattern, when?

Source: Charlie Mulholland

How to influence?

Source: Charlie Mulholland

Some specific examples

Source: Lockton, D. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for influencing behaviour through design. Equifine.

Some specific examples

Source: Lockton, D. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for influencing behaviour through design. Equifine.

Some specific examples

Source: Lockton, D. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for influencing behaviour through design. Equifine.

My aim here has been to encourage you to:• Embrace ethics as a

source of inspiration for:– Research,

sensemaking & reframing

– Ideation– Definition of

requirements– Selection & road

mapping– Detailed design

More information

• Resources mentioned in the presentation:– Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden t

o Earth, Don Ihde

– ‘Where Are the Missing Masses’, Bruno Latour

– Design With Intent: 101 Patterns for Influencing Behaviour Through Design, Dan Lockton

– Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction, Ibo van de Poel & Lambèr Royakkers

– Moralizing technology: Understanding and Designing the Morality of Things, Peter-Paul Verbeek

More information

• Other interesting resources:– Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and E

ffective User Experiences, Stephen P. Anderson

– Mental Notes, Stephen P. Anderson (cards with ways to influence behaviour through design)

– Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariley

– Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do, B. J. Fogg

– Justice lectures, Michael Sandel (videos of Michael Sandel’s introduction to the three main ethical approaches used in western philosophy)

– Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein

Thank you for your attention

Questions?