When I was a child, I had an excess of empathy. I couldn’t see someone crying! Nowadays, as an adult, I have tried not to lose this empathy but to improve my understanding. I used it as a powerful tool for emotional intelligence, especially in designing new services, working with innovation, change management, or managing open innovation programs, as I do, working as an Innovation Consultant at beta-i.
Recently, I found a theme that works as an intersection between these subjects I love – empathy, impact, and innovation: ETHICAL DESIGN.
This article reflects on how entrepreneurs, designers, and changemakers can be more empathetic and practice ethical design by provoking necessary discussions, especially in the technology sector.
First things first:
What is ethical design?
A quick search on Google and you should find something like:
“Design ethics concerns moral behavior and responsible choices in the practice of design. It guides how designers work with clients, colleagues, and the end users of products, how they conduct the design process, how they determine the features of products, and how they assess the ethical significance or moral worth of the products that result from the activity of designing.”
As we have all experienced, services and products can shape our behavior, beliefs, and values and can be used to manipulate or exploit people. It’s crucial to design with ethical considerations in mind. It can lead to misunderstandings of political scenarios and support social, gender, and racial inequality. It can help reinforce positive behaviors or prevent negative consequences. For example, if a product is designed without considering the potential for addiction or manipulation, it can cause harm to individuals and society.
At the core of Ethical Design is the Ethical Hierarchy of Needs created by Aral Balkan and Laura Kalbag. It’s a framework for designers and developers to create services and products that are ethical and responsible and promote the well-being of users and society. Each level represents a different need that the product or service should address in order to be ethical.
The pyramid helps us to explore the layers of usability experience, drawing a parallel between human needs and ethics, and pointing out where to start. And everything starts with respecting Human Rights! The top layers will collapse if the ones under them are corrupted. If any layer is broken the product is unethical.
The Ethical Design Principles
The Ethical Design Principles share a more practical sense of how to apply this knowledge to design ethical and socially responsible products set the tone:
Usability- Create products that are intuitive and safe, focusing on learnability, efficiency, memorability, users’ erros and satisfaction.
Accessibility – Enabling access for people with disabilities (visual, motor, auditory, ability barriers…), or enabling access through the use of assistive technology.
Privacy – The topic of privacy has become almost synonymous with design ethics, with companies being pushed for more proactive and preventive approaches with end-to-end security.
Persuasion – Provide transparency so that users can make informed choices.
Focus – The current digital landscape is addictive, distracting, and competing for attention. Companies’ challenge is to limit everything that disrupts users’ attention, lower the addictiveness of products, and create calmness.
User involvement – The involvement of the user/client early and continuously throughout the process to understand the problems they have and how the product can really help should be mandatory.
Sustainability & Society – Climate change, pandemic, inequality is accurate, and now it’s time that everyone should consider the impact of their work on the world’s environment, resources, and society.
A real-life example of Ethical Design
To summarize and make this tangible, an example of the importance of ethical design is facial recognition technology. It’s a powerful tool that can be used for various purposes, from security to marketing to identifying missing persons. However, if the technology isn’t designed and implemented ethically, it can lead to serious ethical violations and even harm.
For example, studies have shown that facial recognition technology has a higher error rate for people with darker skin, which can lead to discrimination and unfair treatment. In addition, facial recognition technology can infringe on individual privacy and civil liberties, mainly if it is used without individuals’ knowledge or consent.
Ethical design in this context would mean designing and implementing facial recognition technology to consider potential biases and errors, ensure the technology is used fairly and transparently, and respect individuals’ privacy and civil liberties. By doing so, ethical design can help prevent harm and ensure that facial recognition technology is used to benefit society.
How to start practicing ethical design?
Overall, practicing ethical design involves being mindful of the impact of your design decisions and prioritizing the needs of users and society. It requires ongoing learning, critical thinking, and a commitment to ethical principles and practices.
- Start by educating yourself. Learn about ethical design principles, and understand the impact that design has on individuals, society, and the environment.
- Incorporate ethical considerations into your design process. Gather a diverse team or sponsors for multiple perspectives, and be careful with unconscious bias. It will help you with aspects such as inclusivity, accessibility, and diversity.
- Create a WORST CASE scenario when running a test.
- Consider all the legal aspects of it. This will require you to stay informed about ethical and legal issues in design and possibly require the support of other stakeholders.
As changemakers, entrepreneurs, and designers, we must acknowledge that we live in an interconnected world, and what we create can lead to awareness and change.
by Izabella Neves, Innovation Consultant at Beta-i