Talk delivered by Agnes Pyrchla at SXSW 2019. How to use dystopia as a tool to design better digital, data-driven experiences.

1. Design Against a
Data Dystopia
______________
@apyrchla
How to use dystopia to design better digital experiences
SXSW 2019

3. Dystopia
An imagined world or society in which people
lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives

5. “The purpose of a thought experiment… is
not to predict the future… but to describe
reality, the present world.”
Ursula Le Guin, Writer

6. We do thought
experiments all the time

7. Our process is
overwhelmingly utopian

8. Worst Case
Likely Case
Best Case

9. Worst Case
(as a creative act)

10. Now that we can do anything,
what could go wrong?

11. Dystopia helps us imagine
the future we don’t want

12. So that we can
actively design against it

13. Source: Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends

14. Consumer data is being
used without explicit consent

15. Algorithms are powerful
but not really accountable

16. Design teams need
to take responsibility

17. Anil Dash, CEO of Glitch
“Tech is not neutral.All of the changes in our
lives .. do so according to the priorities and
preferences of those who create them.”

18. How can design teams use
dystopia as a tool?

19. Dystopic
thought experiments

20. 4 C’s
Company, Customer, Category, Culture

21. 4 C’s
Company, Customer, Category, Culture
Characters Setting

22. 4 C’s
Company, Customer, Category, Culture
Characters Setting
Now, with
dystopia

23. What does your company stand for?
Company
01/04

24. Heroes vs. Villains

27. What if your company
were the villain?

29. Define what you
don’t want to become

30. What motivates customer’s decisions?
Customer
02/04

31. EMOTIONAL NEEDS
• Supportive and communicative partners I relate to
• Experts to augment business functions
• Turnkey tools for scale that don’t require much effort
INTUITION DRIVENDATA DRIVEN
TRANSACTIONAL INVESTED
SEEKS TOOLS SEEKS ADVISORY
RISK AVERSE RISK TAKING
OBSERVED BEHAVIORS
• I need to have the time and space to focus on my passion
and craft
• I need to be pushing the creative limits of my work for my
community
• I need to be accepted and respected by my peers
FUNCTIONAL NEEDS
Behavioral Archetypes

32. The Hero
Goal: to help others and protect the weak
Fear: being perceived as weak or frightened
Weakness: arrogance, always needing another
battle to fight
Talent: competence and courage
Source: Carl Jung
Behavioral Archetypes

33. How might this
archetype act in distress?

36. Anticipate malicious behavior
(and design to deal with it)

37. What value is being exchanged in this ecosystem?
Category
03/04

38. B2B
REGULATORY
CUSTOMER
USER
PLATFORM
ADVERTISERS
GOVERNMENT
DATA BROKER
Value Map
Content
Content
Taxes
Protection
Attention
Ads
Taxes
Regulation
Data, $$Data, $$

40. Source: ACLU

41. Source: ACLU

42. “What and how data is collected, cleaned
and stored, what models are constructed,
and what questions are asked — all of this is
political.”
danah boyd, Data & Society

43. How might value exchange
between some take advantage of others?

44. Acknowledge that some use
cases can do more harm than good

45. What is the context beyond your industry?
Culture
04/04

47. What if the context were flipped?

49. Flip power structures and imagine
how your company might be complicit

50. Imagine your company as a villain
Anticipate malicious intent and behavior
Map how value is exchanged
Stay aware of social and political context
01
02
03
04

51. Thanks.
@apyrchla