UXA2023 George Aye - That Quiet Little Voice: When Design and Ethics Collide

The lack of a moral framework in the design disciple, let alone a set of ethical guidelines, put designers at great risk of doing more harm than good in the world.

Transcript

1. © Greater Good Studio 2023
   That Quiet Little Voice:
   G R E A T E R G O O D S T U D I O
   U X A U S T R A L I A
   A U G U S T 2 5 , 2 0 2 3
   When Design and Ethics Collide
   

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2. 2
   © Greater Good Studio 2023
   Feedback:
   @greatergood_
   @georgeaye
   

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3. © Greater Good Studio 2023
   Human-Centered Design
   3
   FRAMING
   Defining questions
   to answer and
   people to engage.
   RESEARCH
   Learning from
   people about
   their needs and
   values
   SYNTHESIS
   Finding patterns and
   areas of opportunity

   CONCEPTING
   Creating a high 

   volume of new ideas
   PROTOTYPING
   Making tangible 

   mock-ups and
   gathering feedback
   PILOTING
   Refining solutions
   in order to 

   pilot test
   

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4. © Greater Good Studio 2023 4
   https://stanfordmag.org/contents/vice-made-nice July 2012
   “Monsees and
   Bowen approached
   smokers on campus
   and asked them
   what they loved and
   hated about their
   habit.”
   “The complaints were
   consistent: fear of
   being seen with a
   cigarette and
   paranoia about
   smelling of smoke on
   a first date.”
   “Their first
   prototypes were ad-
   hoc assemblies of
   bespoke
   components and
   items found on
   drugstore shelves.”
   

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5. © Greater Good Studio 2023 5
   https://stanfordmag.org/contents/vice-made-nice July 2012
   “Monsees and
   Bowen approached
   smokers on campus
   and asked them
   what they loved and
   hated about their
   habit.”
   “The complaints were
   consistent: fear of
   being seen with a
   cigarette and
   paranoia about
   smelling of smoke on
   a first date.”
   “Their first
   prototypes were ad-
   hoc assemblies of
   bespoke
   components and
   items found on
   drugstore shelves.”
   

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6. © Greater Good Studio 2023 6
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juul
   “Altria (formerly Philip Morris
   Companies), acquired a 35% stake in
   Juul Labs for
   $12.8 billion on December 20, 2018.”
   

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7. © Greater Good Studio 2023 7
   

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8. © Greater Good Studio 2023 8
   How did we lose our way?
   

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9. © Greater Good Studio 2023 9
   Design has adapted
   and diverged into
   many threads over
   decades.
   

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10. © Greater Good Studio 2023 10
    Dieter Rams
    1. Good design is innovative
    2. Good design makes a
    product useful
    3. Good design is aesthetic
    4. Good design makes a
    product understandable
    5. Good design is unobtrusive
    6. Good design is honest
    7. Good design is long-lasting
    8. Good design is thorough
    down to the last detail
    9. Good design is
    environmentally-friendly
    10. Good design is as little
    design as possible
    

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11. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    We have a craft-based
    framework for good design.
    11
    

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12. © Greater Good Studio 2023 12
    We lack an ethical-based
    framework for good design.
    

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13. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    (Bring Your Own Ethics)
    13
    BYOE
    

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14. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    

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15. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Status Quo is Unacceptable
    Lived Experience is Expertise
    Design is Transformative
    15
    Founding Beliefs
    

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16. workforce development • after-school tutoring • belonging • youth
    writing • childhood obesity • healthy eating • parent engagement • staff
    burnout • healthcare innovation • financial inclusion • tax prep
    teacher engagement • community organizing • college access and
    persistence • violence prevention • program integration • complex
    patient care • government finance • institutional racism • audience
    diversity • community development • neighborhood planning • HIV
    prevention • job skills • tenants’ rights • education policy • green
    space • education advocacy • digital medical records • early literacy
    high school choice • entrepreneurship • school transformation • social
    work innovation • youth character development • camp • reintegration
    grantmaking • donor engagement • board engagement • global health
    early childhood education • power analysis • community-police
    interaction • aging in place • teen sexual health • newborn care
    housing security • arts education • juvenile recidivism • climate justice
    

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17. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    We’re trained to say yes, but never no.
    17
    

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18. © Greater Good Studio 2023 18
    That Quiet Little Voice
    

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19. © Greater Good Studio 2023 19
    That Quiet Little Voice
    • What is Design’s relationship 

    to power and privilege?
    • Which humans are we centering when
    we say, “Human-Centered Design”?
    • Who gets to be called a designer?
    • How do we wean Design’s 

    addiction from whiteness?
    • How can designers say “No” to work
    when we need to pay off _____?
    • Design is often sink or swim but 

    why is drowning so common?
    • How do designers decide which 

    people-in-need to serve?
    • Why does philanthropy, not
    community, set the agenda 

    for social change?
    • What’s the cost of speaking up? 

    But what’s the cost if we don’t?
    • What right do I have to do this work?
    

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20. © Greater Good Studio 2023 20
    Design
    Education’s
    Big Gap:
    Understanding
    the Role of
    Power
    It’s Time to
    Define
    What
    “Good”
    Means in
    Our
    Industry
    Surviving
    IDEO
    

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21. 21
    © Greater Good Studio 2023
    the ability to change another person’s reality
    Sara Cantor
    Executive Director 

    Greater Good Studio
    Power:
    

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22. 22
    © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Power is often lopsided
    Power asymmetry:
    

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23. Power asymmetry
    23
    © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Law Enforcement
    Doctors
    Employers
    Funders
    Teachers
    Landlords
    Local Government
    Leadership
    Detainees
    Patients
    Employees
    Grantees
    Students
    Renters
    Community
    Front line staff
    Greater Good Studio
    

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24. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    “The most common way people give up their
    power is by thinking they don’t have any.”
    24
    Alice Walker
    Author
    

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25. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    We “Gut Check” all new business development,
    every Monday, with the whole studio
    25
    

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26. © Greater Good Studio 2023 26
    Not every question warrants an answer
    

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27. 27
    © Greater Good Studio 2023
    12 years
    50+ breakups
    $2M USAID (largest break up)
    

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28. © Greater Good Studio 2022
    Dear _____________,
    Thank you for taking the
    time to answer our
    questions yesterday in
    response to our email.
    Unfortunately, we’ve come to
    the conclusion that we will
    be not submitting after all.
    We have greatly appreciated
    the care you have taken with
    our application and we hope
    you can appreciate that our
    decision to withdraw was
    not taken lightly.
    We believe that we do you
    best work when we take a
    human-centered approach to
    innovation. We do this by
    observing existing
    behaviors to draw upon for
    inspiration, which leads to
    the creation of new tools
    that we can prototype with
    people for their feedback.
    The way the _________
    project is structured, is not
    the type of design work that
    we do best.
    We hope that our response
    can help you understand
    how we work as a firm as
    well as others in the field of
    human-centered innovation.
    We thank you for the
    opportunity to participate.
    Respectfully yours,
    George Aye
    773-263-2603
    Greater Good Studio
    greatergoodstudio.com
    @greatergood_
    28
    

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29. © Greater Good Studio 2022
    Dear _____________,
    Thank you for taking the
    time to answer our
    questions yesterday in
    response to our email.
    Unfortunately, we’ve come to
    the conclusion that we will
    be not submitting after all.
    We have greatly appreciated
    the care you have taken with
    our application and we hope
    you can appreciate that our
    decision to withdraw was
    not taken lightly.
    We believe that we do ou
    best work when we take a
    human-centered approach to
    innovation. We do this by
    observing existing
    behaviors to draw upon for
    inspiration, which leads to
    the creation of new tools
    that we can prototype with
    people for their feedback.
    The way the _________
    project is structured, is not
    the type of design work that
    we do best.
    We hope that our response
    can help you understand
    how we work as a firm as
    well as others in the field of
    human-centered innovation.
    We thank you for the
    opportunity to participate.
    Respectfully yours,
    George Aye
    773-263-2603
    Greater Good Studio
    greatergoodstudio.com
    @greatergood_
    29
    Thanks
    No.
    It’s not you,
    it’s me.
    Justification
    Let’s stay
    friends.
    

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30. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Without deliberate intervention,
    design rarely serves society.
    30
    

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31. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Design at Scale.
    31
    

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32. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Harm at Scale.
    32
    

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33. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Building Capital + Seeking Comfort
    33
    

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34. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    What if saying, “No”,
    wasn’t seen as a 

    personal “preference”
    34
    

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35. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Code of Ethics
    Standards for Practice
    Licensing and Accreditation
    Continued Education
    +++
    35
    System of Accountability
    

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36. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Design doesn’t need more gatekeeping.
    It needs more accountability.
    36
    

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37. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Accountable
    Unaccountable
    37
    

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38. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Peek into the future.
    38
    

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39. © Greater Good Studio 2023 39
    Social Change by Design Database
    bit.ly/SocialChangeDatabaseBlogPost
    

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40. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    

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41. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    

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42. © Greater Good Studio 2023 42
    Social Change by Design Database
    bit.ly/SocialChangeDatabaseBlogPost
    

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43. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Building Capital + Seeking Comfort
    43
    Building Power + Seeking Truth
    

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44. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    We have everything we need.
    44
    

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45. © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Listen to that quiet little voice 

    inside all of us.
    45
    

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46. 46
    © Greater Good Studio 2023
    Feedback:
    @greatergood_
    @georgeaye
    

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