The impact of social ethics on IA and interactive design

The impact of social ethics on IA and interactive design Experiences from the Norwegian woods

LoveUX

Karl Johan Sæth Information Architect UX
Even though he loves fishing Karl Johan has spent most of the last 12 years developing IA and interactive concepts.

Ingrid Tofte Interaction Designer UX
Apart from freezing a lot, Ingrid has spent the last 12 years of her life designing interactive solutions.

Why do we want to talk about ethics?
Ethics as a recurrent theme
Our experiences through several projects
The Norwegian perspective (cultural)

How does ethics influence IA and interactive design?
Discussed through three different case studies

What is ethics?
A set of principles of right conduct
A theory or a system of moral values
moral code, morals, morality, values, rights and wrongs, principles, ideals, standards (of behavior), value system, virtues, dictates of conscience.

Spheres of Ethics Personal

Spheres of Ethics Social

Spheres of Ethics Global

Norway is in many ways a regulated society
Marketing
Alcohol
Smoking
Taxes
Equality of genders

The government controls 31.6% of publicly listed companies Norwegians enjoy the second highest GDP per-capita in the world

Statistics Norway Cost of Living in Norway United Kingdom USA Norway

As of 2007, Norway´s population numbered 4.7 million. In recent years, immigration has accounted for more than half of Norway's population growth

Case I: Vinmonopolet www.vinmonopolet.no

Which one?

Too much?

Vinmonopolet Why did the solution turn out as it did?
Restrictive legislation
Customer’s interpretation of legislation
Balancing the tightrope between ethics and technical/conceptual possibilities

Vinmonopolet
Designing within a restricted domain with defined ethics
More www.vinmonopolet.no

Case II: Egmont www.univers.no

Egmont Why did the solution turn out as it did?
Building a positive and responsible brand
Primarily target parents, not children
Avoid gender stereotyping

Egmont
Using ethical awareness as a competitive advantage
More www.univers.no

Case III: Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) www.sft.no/co2/

Statistics Norway Concerns amongst Norwegians Poverty Discrimination of woman Hygiene Education Environment 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 %

Avoid E-commerce metaphors such as shopping carts etc…

SFT CO2 Why did the solution turn out as it did?
Distinguish the solution – an official site
Public opinion: Avoid negative attention and annoyance
Increase credibility: Avoid commercial metaphors
Increase traffic: Based on tradition and social ethics

Visual: SFT CO2 V – What if?

SFT CO2 quotas
How an understanding of social ethics can be used to impact on society through design
More www.sft.no

Summing up
Vinmonopolet: Designing within a restricted domain with defined social ethics
Egmont: Using awareness of social ethics as a competitive advantage
SFT CO2: How an understanding of social ethics can be used to impact on society through design

Implications
Ethics considerations is inevitable for IAs and designers
Design is always based on interpretation of ethical rules
Design is bound by social and ethical imperatives

Implications cont.
Enhanced awareness of ethics facilitates powerful design
Competitive advantage by designing for the cultural ethical individual
This gives us great responsibility!

Recommendations
Increase ethical awareness
Identify ethical aspects in each project/solution

A methodology of ethics?

Project Business req. User req. Ethical aspects Ethics req. Ethical imperatives ! ! ! Ethical spheres Global Social Individual

Identify ethical aspects
Analyze these through the different ethical spheres
Identify ethical imperatives
Deduct ethics requirements from these

Ethics versus user experiences
The discussion of ethics is more than a a discussion of good and bad user experiences
User experience Individual sphere, in its nature hedonistic
Ethics Different spheres, addresses consequences just as much as experience

Comments – Questions?
…
LoveUX

Thank you!
Karl Johan Sæth [email_address]
Ingrid Tofte [email_address]
LoveUX

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The impact of social ethics on IA and interactive design

by 15 meanings on May 02, 2008

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The impact of social ethics on IA and interactive design — Webinar Transcript