[IxDA Discuss] Ethical Issues for Interaction Designers

[Josh Viney]

I am coming into this one a little late and, apologetically, haven't read
the entire thread.

One thing that comes to my mind when considering interaction design ethics
is the idea of product integrity. The idea would be that products with
integrity do not lie/mislead about what they are or what they do. There is a
big difference, in my mind, between a poorly designed interaction and an
interaction that is deliberately designed to mislead. It's the difference
between negligence and malice or poor design and evil design. Of course we
should constantly work to avoid poor designs, but I don't want to be the
first to toss stones while living in my glass cubicle.

Examples:
A .44 magnum may be designed to do harm, but it's design is clear and it has
integrity.

A fishing email and landing page are designed with the clear intent to
mislead.

Of course discussion about design of weapons has potential for long drawn
out debate. I will say that given a choice between the two interaction
designers involved with the products above, the interaction designer of the
later would not be added to my Linkedin network.


-- 
Josh Viney
EastMedia Group
Company http://www.eastmedia.com
Blog http://www.kungpowthinking.com