Lecture given at a meeting of the Berlin chapter of IxDA on 6 February 2012

1. IxDA Berlin:
Design ethics as inspiration
Charlie Mulholland - 6 February 2012
Amsterdam University of Applied Science
Department of Communication & Multimedia Design

2. Outline
• A bit about my background
• The basic premise of this talk
• Ethics and IxD: problem or opportunity?
• Some ethical tools that can be used for
inspiration

4. My basic premise
In the coming years,
IxD’ers are likely to
come under increasing
pressure to take (at
least some)
responsibility for the
moral issues raised by
the products they
design

5. Why do I believe this?

6. Technology mediates our experience
of the world…

7. … it affects how we understand &
interact with the world…
Source: Ihde, D. (1990). Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth. Indiana University Press.

8. …and (thus) it mediates how we
(can) act on the world
Source: Charlie Mulholland

9. …and (thus) it mediates how we
(can) act on the world
Source: Aranea Felëus

10. …so it influences our behaviour by
allowing or denying us choices…
Source: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by cogdogblog: http://flickr.com/photos/cogdog/5026449698/

11. …sometimes this is not
problematic…
Source: cc licensed ( BY NC ND ) flickr photo by kitch: http://flickr.com/photos/kitch/3288387680/

12. …but sometimes it is (even if it is an
unintended consequence)…
Source: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by salimfadhley: http://flickr.com/photos/salimfadhley/96770312/

13. …and sometimes this influence is
problematic and deliberate
Source: http://darkpatterns.org/library/privacy_zuckering/

14. The thing is…

15. …your work is becoming more and
more pervasive…
Source: cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by Peter Morville: http://flickr.com/photos/morville/4531186726/

16. …and people have started to worry
about their privacy…
Source: Charlie Mulholland

17. …their ability to escape…
Okay, I know
who you are
now, let’s see
what ads I can
target you with!
Source: https://twitter.com/noazark/status/293194207265447937/photo/1 Noah Zerkin

18. …maybe their freedom!
Source: cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by miss karen: http://flickr.com/photos/misbehave/2352753067/

19. Moral questions are coming
coming to the agenda

20. So ethics & IxD: problem or
opportunity?
Source: cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo by aussiegall: http://flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/276131991/

21. Ethical questions, like design
problems, are wicked problems
What decision
Describe the would you like to What values are
dilemma. Write it make? in conflict?
down clearly. Write it down Make a list.
clearly.
Evaluate who
Who are the What does each What does each
has the most to
stakeholders in stakeholders stakeholders
gain and lose
this dilemma? have to gain? have to lose?
and the fairness
Make a list. Make a list. Make a list.
of these.
What are your
duties to What are your What are your What are your
yourself and duties to your duties to your duties to society Set priorities for
those close to client? user? and the future? your duties
you? Make a list. Make a list. Make a list.
Make a list.
What action What are your How would you
What action
would a own preference feel if your Now re-evaluate
would a duty-
consequentialist in terms of the original decision your original
based approach
approach values? was widely decision
suggest?
suggest? Make a list. know?
Source: Charlie Mulholland

22. Thinking about ethics adds more
complexity of the design process
Source: Charlie Mulholland

23. However, there is another less
cynical, but realistic approach
• Embrace ethics as a
source of inspiration
for:
– Research, sensemaking
& reframing
– Ideation
– Definition of
requirements
– Selection & road
mapping
– Detailed design

24. Some ethical tools that can be
used for inspiration
(as well as for assessing the impact of
your work!)

25. The ethical cycle
Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

26. The ethical cycle and research,
sensemaking & reframing
Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

27. The ethical cycle and ideation
Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

28. The ethical cycle and defining
requirements
Source: Poel, I. van de, & Royakkers, L. (2011). Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

29. Virtues & vices

30. Design patterns and detailed
design

31. Persuasion
Source: http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

32. Nudges
Source: cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr photo by methodshop.com: http://flickr.com/photos/methodshop/2483875119/

33. Scripts
Source: http://id.hva.nl

34. What type of pattern, when?
Source: Charlie Mulholland

35. How to influence?
Source: Charlie Mulholland

36. Some specific examples
Source: Lockton, D. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for influencing behaviour through design. Equifine.

37. Some specific examples
Source: Lockton, D. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for influencing behaviour through design. Equifine.

38. Some specific examples
Source: Lockton, D. (2010). Design with intent: 101 patterns for influencing behaviour through design. Equifine.

39. My aim here has been to encourage
you to:
• Embrace ethics as a
source of inspiration
for:
– Research, sensemaking
& reframing
– Ideation
– Definition of
requirements
– Selection & road
mapping
– Detailed design

40. More information
• Resources mentioned in the presentation:
– Technology and the Lifeworld: From Garden to Earth,
Don Ihde
– ‘Where Are the Missing Masses’, Bruno Latour
– Design With Intent: 101 Patterns for Influencing
Behaviour Through Design, Dan Lockton
– Ethics, Technology, and Engineering: An Introduction,
Ibo van de Poel & Lambèr Royakkers
– Moralizing technology: Understanding and Designing
the Morality of Things, Peter-Paul Verbeek

41. More information
• Other interesting resources:
– Seductive Interaction Design: Creating Playful, Fun, and
Effective User Experiences, Stephen P. Anderson
– Mental Notes, Stephen P. Anderson (cards with ways to
influence behaviour through design)
– Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The
Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, Dan Ariley
– Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We
Think and Do, B. J. Fogg
– Justice lectures, Michael Sandel (videos of Michael Sandel’s
introduction to the three main ethical approaches used in
western philosophy)
– Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and
Happiness, Richard H. Thaler & Cass R. Sunstein

42. Thank you for your attention
Questions?