Should we, as designers, be personably responsible for contributing to harmful products?
Are we, as designers, personally responsible for the products that we put out into the world? Recently, more than ever before, there has been a lot of focus on companies profiting from the sale and collection of their consumers’ data.
Something which is common knowledge to those in the tech-world “if you’re not paying for it with money, you’re paying for it with information” was suddenly exposed to the mass public. The overall reaction for me was, in a way, surprising — I suppose I’d always assumed people understood the business model, and chose to engage anyway.
That got me thinking further — how many products exist today, that carry a similar level of deceit? If not intentional deceit, then at the very least, a lack of transparency? It’s easy to become wrapped up in the world of product, design, tech, and entrepreneurship, where these tactics are common place — and considered the norm, but the world is bigger than us.
If I think back on my career so far, I can point to several products early-on that provided little-to-no real value, but profited greatly. Although not using “Dark Patterns” per se, we employed addictive gamification tactics to part people from their money — without providing real value in return. The phrases “addiction”, and “pulling people in” were common place, with little thought towards providing real value. The product was driven by metrics, not the consumer’s benefit.
At this point, it becomes a real grey area. Of course, businesses need to make money — if they’re not making money, there will be no business tomorrow. But the focus should never be on “how can we get people addicted” rather than “how can we create a product people love”.
At the time, I was young and inexperienced — I had no leeway, not much experience, and I needed the pay-check. Something I wouldn’t begrudge anyone for — we all have bills to pay.
Incidentally, those products are no longer around today. I can’t say for sure . that there’s a correlation there, but it’s interesting to look at.
The birth of Caus.
I’ve been working as a product designer for almost 5 years now — working in every stage of the process, from ideation & conception to scale & improvement. My personal “Design Philosophy”, is to always add delight, and do no harm. Delightful design combined with a genuinely useful product will provide far more sustainability than ethically grey tactics ever will.
There’s a big difference between good design, and bad design. There’s an even bigger difference between good design, and delightful design. Good design keeps people around, delightful design has them bringing everyone they know.
For me, working with startups has always been the best part of my job. I love working directly with founders — the electricity in the room when working through the big problems is something that can be seldom replicated. While I love slotting into a team, as a serial founder myself, I also love to build companies. That led to the birth of Caus.
As a design studio, our number one rule is to only work with companies that we believe in — not every product has to be making a huge impact, or saving the rainforest, but our number one priority is to Do No Harm. We’re proud of everything we produce, which means each and every product has to provide value, without employing questionable business tactics.
Uultimately, I believe that as designers, we have to take responsibility for the products we ship. We should strive to work on the products that make genuine improvement’s in peoples lives. Push back on the decisions that feel morally or ethically wrong. Be a positive light, and a true champion for the consumer.
Strive to work on the products that make genuine improvement’s in peoples lives. Be a positive light, and a true champion for the consumer.
Aim to do a simple gut-check on the projects you take on. Knowing the business model, the value we’re adding, and the reason we’re building this product:
- Would we recommend this to a close friend? To my family? To a colleague?
- Is this product providing genuine value to someone’s life?
- Are we using deceitful techniques without providing true value as a direct result?
- Would we be proud if every aspect of this product and business was visible, with our name attached?
It’s not always possible, and we all have to make ends meet. But the more we fight back against the harmful products that exist, the bigger positive impact we can make in the lives of every day people.
