What does it take to be an ethical designer

Information architecture affects people - there’s no doubt about that. And in any practice that affects people, a range of ethical issues come into play. Each and every decision we make can help or hurt many - our users, clients, peers and even our profession as a whole.This presentation will examine some of the ethical issues that we face as information architects, including:

The myriad of effects of our design decisions on users
Working with clients and peers
The consequences of creating categories and classifying objects
What inclusive design really means
Personal beliefs and their role in projects
How can we design for sustainability

I’m not a philosopher, so this presentation will be very much from a practitioner’s perspective. It may even be funny!

Transcript

1. Ethics of IA Donna Maurer – Maadmob Interaction Design What does it take to be an ethical designer?
2. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? About me • Freelance information architect/interaction designer  I design structures & interfaces for complex informational & interactive systems  8+ years professional experience, as an innie, an outie & a freelancer  Designed business applications, websites, intranets • Practice, teach, mentor and write about IA and IxD • Board member for IAI and WIPA • Writing a book about card sorting - due sometime…
3. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? About this talk
4. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? About this talk
5. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? About ethics… • Moral philosophy • The study of values and customs of a person or group • In our context  Making ethical design decisions  Professional practice – how we work together  Professional practice – how our actions affect our profession • I’m not representing the position of any group I’m associated with
6. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? I will…
7. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? I will…truly design for people
8. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …cause no harm
9. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …design for true inclusivity
10. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? I will…
11. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …make informed decisions
12. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …understand my decisions
13. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
14. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …consider all consequences
15. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
16. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? Analyst/Programmer Architect Business Analyst Computer Operators Consultant/Functional Consultant Database Development & Admin Engineer - Hardware Engineer - Network Engineer - Software Help Desk/Support Internet/Multimedia Design Internet/Multimedia Development Management Networks & Systems Other Product Management Project Management QA/Testers Sales - Pre & Post Security Team Leaders Technical Writers Telecommunications Trainers
17. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
18. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
19. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
20. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …consider all consequences • Personas… Jennifer is a sales rep for an upmarket kitchenware manufacturer in Sydney. She spends her days driving to clients' retail stores to check their stock and place orders for them. The office gives Jennifer the schedule of customers to visit each day. As customers have different timetables for visits, the schedule is never the same. Her first job of the day, and the most frustrating, is sorting out the most efficient way to get to the clients. She is familiar with the customer's locations as she visits them frequently, but not as familiar with the best route between them. Sitting in traffic all day is not Jennifer’s idea of fun. She hates being late to a scheduled customer, and hates having to rush and arrive flustered. A friend told her about a new in-car navigation computers. She said that some let you put in all your locations and get a map of the best way to get there, then talk you through the directions. They can also get around traffic jams. Jennifer is not sure about getting one – it is already hard enough to drive around Sydney without a computer babbling at you. She also worries that she won't be able to use it. She can’t even set the clock on the video! How will she set all the locations and know that she’s done everything right?
21. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …consider all consequences • Scenarios… Jennifer gets the list of client calls by email at home before she leaves. She goes out to her car, and enters the addresses of all the places she has to visit today. She notes that one of them must be done at 11am and one at 2.30pm and asks for her route to be shown. She looks at the sequence the computer has calculated. It looks good, but there is one client she would like to see in the morning instead of the afternoon. She moves this, recalculates her route and gets going. For the first client, she doesn’t need directions. She turns it on after the first client and hears the directions as she drives. It is quite clear but she occasionally looks at the screen when there is too much noise. The system shows her the distances she needs to travel, so she can plan when to get petrol. She has time after her 2.30 client, so shows the nearest petrol station and heads there, then shows the nearest ATM to grab some cash (the route recalculates for her). This system is turning out to be much more useful than she thought. It is saving her time and petrol and making her day much less frazzled.
22. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …communicate effectively with decision makers
23. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
24. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? I will…
25. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …respect my team mates • This slide intentionally left blank
26. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …do my best
27. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer?
28. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? I will…
29. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …walk the talk “Yes, they’re just the shit-kickers, but you still need to talk to them” Overheard from a usability consultant
30. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …provide value
31. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? Personal moral guidelines
32. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …personal moral guidelines
33. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? …personal moral guidelines
34. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? “We’ve evolved from a focus on features to focus on ease of use and now will have the opportunity to focus on quality of life” “Good design is at the heart of quality of life. Designers today have an opportunity to design at a time when mass consciousness will really value great design” Linda Stone, IDEA Conference
35. OZIA 2007 What does it take to be an ethical designer? Questions & thanks • http://maadmob.net/ • 0409-778-693 • donna@maadmob.net