Digital Ethics as a Driver of Design Innovation

In this talk and workshop you will…

* Understand how digital design can contribute to harm through for example monoculture, invisible decision-making, abuse enablement and more.
* Learn how you can better predict and address impact through design (by adding friction!).
* Find ways of using insights about vulnerability and risk to design more innovative and unique solutions.

Transcript

1. DIGITAL ETHICS AS A DRIVER OF DESIGN INNOVATION PER AXBOM • DIGITAL ETHICIST AND COMMUNICATION THEORIST • AXBOM.COM
12. 6,400 kilometers 7,200 kilometers
13. Discover De fi ne Develop Deliver
14. Discover De fi ne Develop Deliver NORM / “MOST PEOPLE”
15. Discover De fi ne Develop Deliver NORM / “MOST PEOPLE”
16. Discover De fi ne Develop Deliver EDGE-CASE EDGE-CASE NORM / “MOST PEOPLE”
17. MOST PROJECTS KEEP BUILDING FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY PRETTY WELL-OFF
18. We can not keep using the same maps and expect negative impact to suddenly disappear.
19. Organisation Machine Society The Elements of Digital Ethics Un- account- ability Digital obfuscation Power concen- tration Mono- culture Naive reckless- ness Algorithmic injustice Invisible decision- making Psycho- engineering Techno- solutionism Surveillance capitalism Attention economy Rule of Quantity Rampant harassment Voice suppression Exclusion Biometric abuse Behavior suppression Abuse enable- ment Ecological neglect Privacy devaluation Human Supply chain neglect Environment CC-BY-NC-SA
 Per Axbom • @axbom Digital gaslighting Worker endanger- ment Date • version
 March 1, 2021 • 1.0 Latest + Hi-Res
 axbom.com/elements Unequal access Lack of ethical ownership Ethics- washing Education defects Geographic resistance Regulation defects Permanent impact Supervision Viral
 repro-
 duction Private public spaces online AXBOM.COM/ELEMENTS
20. Using design to in fl uence people’s behavior in a certain direction, making it harder for them to act in their own interest. The purpose is to have people act in a way that bene fi ts the organisation regardless of a persons’s own goals. Related: Digital gaslighting - making people think any harm is their own fault. BEHAVIOR SUPPRESSION HUMAN https://axbom.com/con fi rmshaming/
21. Harm as a result of neglect, unwillingness or inability to consider how our creations a ff ect people’s wellbeing, exclude them from participation or in other ways mislead. EXCLUSION HUMAN
22. Harm as a result of sensitive information being managed in a way that helps a third party use it for purposes other than what the owners of the information have consented to, or realise they have consented to. NAIVE RECKLESSNESS ORGANISATION
23. Harm that happens as a selection of participants in a service harm others and the people responsible for the platform choose not to see or manage the con fl ict. RAMPANT HARASSMENT SOCIETY
24. Harm happening as a result of automated decision systems are developed from a position of power and based on information that is biased or simply incorrect. Since algorithms work faster than humans, algorithmic injustice leads to more e ff i cient execution of harmful decisions. ALGORITHMIC INJUSTICE MACHINE
25. RULE OF QUANTITY SOCIETY This omnipresent state of mind implies that if something can not be measured it does not carry worth. And the assumption that if something can be measured, it is a clear indicator of worth.
26. GETTING HURT “BY COMPUTERS” IS NOT NEW
27. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS.
28. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS DESIGN.
29. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS DESIGN PEOPLE.
30. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS DESIGN PEOPLE. Invisibly Visibly
31. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS DESIGN PEOPLE. Invisibly Visibly
32. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS DESIGN PEOPLE. AI.
33. PEOPLE ARE BEING HURT BY COMPUTERS DESIGN PEOPLE. AI. Nah, it’s still people.
34. DESIGN INTRODUCES UNFAMILIARITY INTO AN EXISTING ECOSYSTEM. WE DESIGN TO MAKE THE SYSTEM WORK DIFFERENTLY THAN IT DID BEFORE.
35. Platforms designed to bring people closer together are creating more hate and division. Platforms designed to make people safer are putting people in harms way. Platforms designed to help people live healthier lives are giving people anxiety. Platforms designed for inspiration and fun are hurting mental wellbeing. NEGATING THE ORIGINAL PURPOSE
36. They say that if a butter fl y fl aps its wings in the Amazonian rain forest, it can change the weather half a world away. If a web designer changes a button, it can change wellbeing for millions of people across the world. LIKE
38. IT IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR NOW
41. THOSE ARE JUST EDGE- CASES, NOT THE NORM OTHERS ARE ALREADY DOING IT WE’VE DONE WHAT WE CAN
42. THERE WAS AN OBVIOUS SPEAKING PARTNER WITH SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE IN ALL THIS, LET’S HOPE THEY REACH OUT TO US…
43. MEANWHILE, ON THE INTERNET
45. AT LEAST ROB CAN FIND HIS KEYS
47. AS THE MAKERS OF DIGITAL SERVICES AND PRODUCTS, WE NEED TOOLS AND MAPS TO MANAGE AND MITIGATE OUR OWN WEAKNESSES THESE PROBLEMS ARE SOLVABLE
48. Obvious potential for negative impact
49. Obvious potential for negative impact Negative impact only discovered after it happens
50. Obvious potential for negative impact Negative impact only discovered after it happens Negative impact predicted by speculative, systematic reasoning and strategic foresight
51. Obvious potential for negative impact Negative impact only discovered after it happens Negative impact predicted by speculative, systematic reasoning and strategic foresight Negative impact predicted by involving more people with relevant experience
52. INCLUSIVE PANDA
53. participants included excluded unwanted (non-participants) negative impact risk-zone risk zone INCLUSIVE PANDA
54. participants included excluded unwanted (non-participants) negative impact risk-zone risk zone INCLUSIVE PANDA Use to foreca st e ff ects beyond what you are normally te st ing and evaluating.
55. PARTICIPANTS INCLUDED RISK U NWANTED RISK RISK TOOL 2: The Inclusive Pand CAN NOT AFFORD PEOPLE WITHOUT AN IPHONE UNAWARENESS OF TRACKING STALKERS ABUSIVE PARTNERS PHYSICAL VIOLENCE FOLLOWING MY STOLEN DEVICE CAN PUT ME IN DANGER I DON’T UNDERSTAND THE WARNING MESSAGE BATTERY RUNS OUT THIEVES PSYCHO- LOGICAL VIOLENCE STOLEN ITEMS EXCLUDED NO WARNING MESSAGE
56. IMPACT MAPPING How bad/severe is the potential outcome? How much do we contribute through what we build? How likely is it to happen? How disadvantaged are the people affected? What? Who? people who want to protect their identity abusers/attackers find them and hurt them
57. IMPACT MAPPING How bad/severe is the potential outcome? How much do we contribute through what we build? How likely is it to happen? How disadvantaged are the people affected? What? Who? people who want to protect their identity abusers/attackers find them and hurt them
58. IMPACT MAPPING How bad/severe is the potential outcome? How much do we contribute through what we build? How likely is it to happen? How disadvantaged are the people affected? What? Who? people who want to protect their identity abusers/attackers find them and hurt them Use to help your organisation under st and impact and prioritise activities
61. «Zuckerberg used to rave about the virtues of “frictionless sharing,” but these days Facebook is working on “imposing friction” to slow the sp read of disinformation.» https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/09/17/can-mark-zuckerberg- fi
62. FRICTION 1. Force considered decisions
63. 2. Educate before/within use FRICTION
64. 3. Match expectations FRICTION
65. 4. Prevent misuse / abuse FRICTION
66. 5. Increase product quality / filter out “bad” users FRICTION
67. You will find the password by reading the welcome information carefully. In this film you will find the password for logging in to the booking system, 5 small characters. Your username is in the confirmation e-mail. Code of conduct explained whilst giving out one letter of the password every thirty seconds. FRICTION
68. Friction creates loyal, active, serious and sustainable relationships. Innovation
69. ETHICAL DILEMMAS ARE LIKE BIRDS https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/technology-ethics/ Everywhere Varied Di ffi cult to spot Concentrated in particular environments Easier to spot in groups Can often be anticipated if you know where/when they tend to show up Guides and tools can help Noticed by people who are in the habit of looking for them
70. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/technology-ethics/ GET INTO THE HABIT OF LOOKING FOR THEM!
71. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/technology-ethics/ GET INTO THE HABIT OF LOOKING FOR THEM! Who is in the room and making the decisions? Do we really need to ask for this data? Am I sure the design pattern that worked over there also works here? What faulty assumptions are we making? Instead of making decisions FOR people, how could we actually build something differently to support people in exercising their autonomy and self-determination, to activate system 2 thinking? Am I inside an environment that supports ethical reasoning? Who do we need to talk to?
72. promotes wellbeing harmful to some harmful to some harmful to many harmful to many ETHICAL DESIGN IS NOT ABOUT STOPPING TECHNICAL INNOVATION. IT’S ABOUT INFLUENCING ITS DIRECTION. (WITH BETTER MAPS AND INDICATORS)
73. promotes wellbeing harmful to some harmful to some harmful to many harmful to many ETHICAL DESIGN IS NOT ABOUT STOPPING TECHNICAL INNOVATION. IT’S ABOUT INFLUENCING ITS DIRECTION. (WITH BETTER MAPS AND INDICATORS)
74. PREDICTION:
75. ALL COMPANIES WILL BE OUTPERFORMED BY A MORE ETHICAL VERSION CATERING TO THE EXACT SAME NEEDS.
76. ALL COMPANIES WILL BE OUTPERFORMED BY A MORE ETHICAL VERSION CATERING TO THE EXACT SAME NEEDS. ARE YOU DOING YOUR BEST WORK?
77. PER AXBOM axbom.info Remember t o be kind t o yourself FIRST 🥰
78. WORKSHOP
79. END