While I am in the process of learning and mastering the User Experience and User Interface design, The Social Dilemma, a 2020 Netflix documentary, is a much needed reality check for a budding designer like me. I was always taught that, a design should be user centric and a designer’s priority should be the user’s experience. But, this documentary has thrown light on the in-depth meaning of the above learnings.
Firstly, while being user-centric, should the designer also be ethical while designing?
YES, a designer has to be ethical throughout the design process. Lack of this might and sometimes would lead to user inconvenience. Because, product designers are the ones who design the overall experience of the users with the product and develop it based on user interactions. So, a product designer, more specifically a UX designer is a mediator of a product and the users. But, as an employee of an organization, he/she should also be in a position to satisfy the company requirements. A designer should always design a product keeping in mind, both the business needs and user demands.
How can this be achieved?
This can be done only when a designer and the company together work on the structure of the decision-making and design processes. In order to consider ethical design as part of the design process, it is essential to prioritize the value which are based on all the stakeholder requirements. Discussing the requirements of the multiple stakeholders, creating the list of values of every possible individual involved in the process of making a product and finally prioritizing the values by comparing with the others will help the designers bring up an ethical design.
Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do — Potter Stewart
Ethical design is a design that does not harm or put users in an inappropriate situation.
One possible hindrance in the making of an ethical design could be, difficulty in prioritizing the values. Some values might not be important than the business needs. The only solution I feel would be discussing and creating more ethical awareness among every individual in the organization. So, ethical design can be integrated in the product only when the stakeholders of the company and the designer together work on promoting and strictly following the ethics and morals.
I take small breaks while working and interact with my phone, using social media platforms, more often Instagram. My breaks never followed my time schedules — A friend of mine
Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future — Robert L. Peters
So far, I have seen that designers have the capability to change the way the world thinks and acts. Which means, designer can influence the user behavior with his/her interactive designs. As shown in the documentary, the design tech we see today, for example the social media platforms interact with the user and make him/her spend more time by personalizing the feed. If a designer can do this with his/her UI, very clearly is means, a designer can influence the users and the web.
Design tech is a boon which when a group of people in an organization ethically think and act can create wonders, make profits and still make the user happy by providing healthy and ethical design. Businesses should always work on building long-term relationships with the users and secure their trust and not focus on short-term profits.
Most business models have focused on self-interest instead of user experience — Tim Cook
I as a future designer will always aim at not just designing a product that enhances user experience but will also make sure that I continuously work on improving and implementing ethics in my design and try to balance the business and user requirements.
This documentary has actually now taught me be more conscious and proactive in both, decision-making and design processes. In this digital world where avoiding the web completely is not possible, we need to work on our time budget and prioritize things which need internet.
Lastly, users should have an ethical awareness of the product and should be resistant to the companies which collect the data unethically.
Always beware of your every click on the web.
