[IxDA Discuss] Ethical Issues for Interaction Designers

[Olly Wright]

On 31 Jul 2007, at 22:43, Dan Saffer wrote:

> I don't know how to deal with the ethics of the *content* of any
> exchange, and I'm hesitant to venture into those waters and start
> designing in checks for that.

Completely agree. The first area of confusion with ethics (one of  
many) that I have encountered is the blurring of the line between the  
'form of behaviour' and the 'content within that form'. When, for  
example, people rail against the web they'll frequently cite porn,  
child molesters on MySpace, and phishing scams. To blame 'the  
internet' for this is comparable blaming 'the street' for muggings  
and people slipping on banana peels. Which reminds me of the fallacy  
of "gun's don't hurt anyone, people do".

The categories I suggested at the last IA summit were:

Professional ethics: the practical ethics of doing business,  
including who we work for and what we are willing / unwilling to do  
for them. Similar to medical ethics for doctors for example.

User experience ethics: desiging things that lead to positive  
experiences. Good usability / user friendly, accessible, not  
frustrating or demeaning etc.

Cultural ethics: desiging technology that has a long term positive  
effect on the behaviour and culture of its users. Encouraging  
positive ways of being, and discouraging negative ones. The ethical  
analysis of new (design-enabled) behaviour forms in terms of the  
ethics of that behaviour.


/ Olly Wright