[IxDA Discuss] Ethical Issues for Interaction Designers

[Robert Reimann]

The main issue I have with your third point (cultural ethics) is that it
immediately
raises the question:"from the perspective of whose culture?". As unique
cultures
continue to be extinguished at an ever increasing rate by western
megaculture,
and understanding that technology is one of chief vectors of western
cultural
hegemony, the idea of a cultural ethics (presumably determined by the
majority culture)
and employed in the design of technology seems as though it could itself be
ethically suspect.

Robert.


On 8/1/07, Olly Wright <olly.wright at mediacatalyst.com> wrote:
>
> 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
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-- 
Robert Reimann
President, IxDA

Manager, User Experience
Bose Corporation
Framingham, MA