A presentation at EmpireJS in in New York, NY, USA by Holger Bartel
The Untold Benefits of Ethical Design EmpireJS 2018, NYC
Hello EmpireJS!
Holger Bartel uforepublic Ltd. Hong Kong Twitter: @foobartel
Build a “Better” Product Put User Interests First Challenge Status Quo Ethics at the Core
Ethical Design
Definition: 1 ethics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation 2 a : a set of moral principles : a theory or system of moral values the presentday materialistic ethic an old-fashioned work ethic —often used in plural but singular or plural in construction an elaborate ethicsChristian ethics b ethics plural in form but singular or plural in construction : the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group professional ethics c : a guiding philosophy d : a consciousness of moral importance forge a conservation ethic 3 ethics plural : a set of moral issues or aspects (such as rightness) debated the ethics of human cloning
A Guiding Philosophy
The discipline of dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation
Ethical Design: Design created with the intent to do good.
Design with good intent can still go wrong.
We spend a lot of time thinking about tools, technologies and frameworks.
We spend a lot of time thinking about tools, technologies and frameworks. How much time do you spend thinking about the impact of what you’re building?
Surveillance Capitalism
Data against People “Systems that make decisions about people based on their data produce substantial adverse effects that can massively limit their choices, opportunities, and life-chances”. http://crackedlabs.org/en/data-against-people
Dark Patterns
Dark Patterns are tricks [used in websites and apps] that make users do things that you didn't mean to.
Dark Patterns pressure users into making a decision.
Cancellation Page of an online subscription
Stress Loss Aversion Anxiety
Stressed, anyone?
Human Centered Design What’s really good for our users?
User Experience
User Experience: Accessibility Inclusivity Internationalisation Copy Writing User Flows Legibility Performance Respect Impact Security Privacy Responsibility
Peace of Mind
We’re spending a lot of time thinking about how to collect more and more data.
We’re spending a lot of time thinking about how to collect more and more data. How much time do you spend thinking about how to secure that data?
The data you don’t have stored, can’t be leaked, lost or stolen.
Web Performance
Bandwidth speeds in Hong Kong
Bandwidth speeds in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Respecting Users
Respect your users’ time. Happy users will be much more likely to forgive.
Rethinking the Approach
4 Pillars for a Better Web
Responsibility Performance Privacy Security
Everybody wants to create better experiences. How would you like to be treated? What are you willing to do for it?
Accessibility Inclusivity Responsibility
Privacy
Web Performance
Security
Great! But…
“Don’t ask how you’re going to pay your rent working ethically. Ask why you’re open to behaving unethically in the first place.” —Mike Monteiro
We need to get our values and ethics right. Today.
By thinking about the user, how to treat and what to serve them, it’s possible to achieve better performance, offer improved privacy and security and become better at our craft.
Design with the intent to do good.
Design with the intent to do ~~good~~ better.
Do better every day.
Thank you.
Links & Credits New York Skyline: https://unsplash.com/photos/_QdFx92MO2U Hong Kong City View: https://unsplash.com/photos/g5-5pRzVPZw Data Breach Visualisation: www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/worlds-biggestdata-breaches-hacks/ Dark Patterns: https://darkpatterns.org/ Data against People: http://crackedlabs.org/en/data-against-people Colloq can be found at: https://colloq.io These slides can also be found on https://foobartel.com/speaking
Ethics need to be at the core of everything we build. We have to consider our impact and rethink how to build digital products. This way we will not only build more responsible products, but gain additional benefits in the areas of performance, security and privacy. This talk will show how we can truly care about our users & improve their experience. Most importantly, this talk will be an inspiration, question the status quo and help us build for a better web.
Here’s what was said about this presentation on social media.
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