The New Designer. Can designers change the world?
Manuel Lima answers questions about his new book on design ethics!
Hi! I am Natalia, the editor of the Make Your Data Speak community journal.
Today, I would like to tell you about a speaker whom I am familiar with through his excellent presentations on the topic of data visualization.
A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, named “one of the 50 most creative and influential minds” by Creativity magazine, Manuel Lima is the founder of VisualComplexity.com, head of Design at Interos.ai, and a leading voice on information visualization who has spoken at 100+ conferences, universities and festivals across four continents.
…About the author of remarkable books, whose passion for antique tree diagrams I share. I am incredibly impressed by the thoroughness and diligence with which he has collected a vast number of exquisite examples of ancient data visualizations, delving deep into their origins.
His previous books: “Visual Complexity: Mapping Patterns of Information” (2013), “The Book of Trees: Visualizing Branches of Knowledge” (2014) and “The Book of Circles: Visualizing Spheres of Knowledge” (2017)
…About a designer who wrote a book of reflections on ethics in design.
Blending approaches derived from ethics, psychology, economics, and ecology, This book is a vital, field-changing treatise that will appeal to any reader who seeks to understand design’s massive influence on the contemporary world.
About Manuel Lima and his new book “The New Designer: Rejecting Myths, Embracing Change” (2023).
The topic of ethics in the design of digital products has been actively stirring the minds of the world’s best experts for several years, we really lack thoughtful reflection on this topic: fresh ideas, conclusions, solutions.
We want creations of human hands to bring goodness to us, not just help corporations enrich themselves. Nowadays, many designers and developers are faced with difficult choices in their work: should they do what’s best or what’s easier? Should they follow their hearts or listen to what the bosses say?
When you’re just a small cog in the vast process of making products for the world, is there time to break free from the routine, look back, and think — how ethical is it to make what comes out of my hands? Will it harm anyone? What does my creation contain more of — goodness or evil? Or is it filled with indifference and the thirst for profit?
Manuel agreed to a short interview with the Make Your Data Speak team and answered a few questions about himself and his new book. While I was writing this article, the book managed to see the light, and I really hope to read it soon.
In the meantime, I suggest you learn a little more: what is hidden under this bright yellow cover? And what was the author thinking about when creating such an ambitious work?
Questions and Answers
Natalia: The description of your new book is amazing! Expanding the responsibility of designers beyond their specific projects toward ethics is a fascinating twist. Could you clarify if the book will be beneficial for data visualization specialists? Do they encounter more ethical challenges compared to designers in a broader sense?
Manuel: One challenge pertaining to information designers and data visualization specialists which I mention in the book is statistical numbing, a psychological phenomenon that makes us feel indifferent to the suffering of large numbers of people. Charts and graphs can create a distancing effect from the issue they attempt to depict, and when that subject is a human tragedy, then we have to be extra careful. Every time we depict humans on a chart they become an abstraction, and as a result, we seem to detach ourselves from our moral responsibility, in other words, it’s a form of moral disengagement.
So how do we avoid losing our humanity and our ability to care? By embracing a more comprehensive model of ethical responsibility. One that considers the importance of empathy and respect in stirring the right level of emotion and compassionate action on readers. In this context, anthropographics is a promising field of study that could help us decode more humane ways to depict data.
Natalia: What are some common ethical challenges that designers face when working with data and visualizing information, and how can they navigate these challenges effectively? I believe this question is extensively addressed in the book, but could you share a passage or provide one piece of advice on this topic?
Manuel: If you look at the typical process for many data visualization projects, you will see it’s comprised primarily of three stages: collect data, analyze data and depict data. Every option you make at every single stage matters. When it comes to collecting data, awareness is paramount. Data sources should be reliable and verifiable. Data is not neutral. You can ask yourself, where did this data come from, who benefits from it, and what was its goal? Perhaps the most important stage is analyzing data since so much of it happens behind the scenes, and as a result, there are many opportunities for biases to trickle in. Here transparency is the guiding principle. Attribution should be given whenever possible and you should be transparent about where the data came from, and how it was treated and filtered. Finally, when it comes to depicting data, it’s all about integrity. You should not use visual metaphors to intentionally hide or confuse the truth which it is intended to portray.
As I mentioned in the previous question, this process is incomplete if it doesn’t take into account a fourth stage. One that considers the importance of respect for all human beings and aims at stirring enough emotion in viewers to lead them to take knowledgeable and compassionate action.
Natalia: You actively share your expertise not only through books but also through teaching and participating in conferences. Your presentation at the Make Your Data Speak 2023 data visualization conference was fantastic! Which format do you find more inspiring and why — speaking at conferences or conducting workshops and lectures?
Manuel: Thank you! I find teaching quite rewarding at various levels. I also enjoy doing talks and lectures. Both align well with my mission of using my passion and knowledge to inspire and educate others. To nurture clarity, curiosity, and determination. To promote a love for the unknown and the impossible. To elevate human culture and encourage new ways of thinking.
Nothing is more rewarding to me than touching and impacting someone else’s mind and outlook on the world. To influence how they view a given topic or what they choose as their next career goal. From all methods you mentioned, workshops are perhaps the least interesting to me, only because they tend to focus more on the practicality of things, by using and applying specific methodologies and tools.
Natalia: Your book, “The Book of Circles: Visualizing Spheres of Knowledge”, has achieved remarkable success as a Best Seller on Amazon, ranking #1 in the Conceptual Arts category. It showcases a wealth of captivating examples that highlight the creative utilization of circular forms in design and data visualization. However, I’m curious to know which book of yours holds a special place in your heart. Additionally, as a recommendation for aspiring designers, which of your books would you suggest as a starting point?
Manuel: “The Book of Circles” should be the starting point. I normally say that as a new reader of my work, you should start with my third one, “The Book of Circles”, and read them in reverse order. I say this because, in my first three books, I went back in time to the origins of human visual depiction. Networks took me to trees, as primeval forms of node-link diagrams, and trees took me to circles, the most ancient of all graphical depictions, dating as far back as 40,000 BC.
“Visual Complexity” holds a special place in my heart, not necessarily for being the best, but because it was my first. I learned so much from it, in terms of research, writing, and content management, but also in learning to control occasional anxiety and frustration. Later on, I was able to apply many of these fundamental lessons in all my subsequent titles.
Natalia: I feel that a book addressing ethics cannot emerge in a person’s mind just like that. What inspired you to create it? Was there any conflict or a different kind of experience related to the ethical choices of a designer?
Manuel: About 5 years ago I went through a mid-life crisis. First, let me say I don’t like the word “crisis” because I see it as an important and positive stage in one’s life. It’s ultimately an opportunity for reflection and self-evaluation. An opportunity to ask yourself: what am I doing with my life and what do I want to do with the time I’ve left?
Most of this introspection was on me as an individual, but it also gave me a chance to look at my career and the overall design field, which I had been practicing for almost two decades. What I found were multiple episodes where design was failing to meet its goals and aspirations to create a better world and have a positive impact on society.
So the book started with my attempt to answer a simple question: despite its well-intentioned pursuit, how can we justify design’s moral failure? The book attempts to answer this question by exposing multiple myths that are mental shackles, holding back designers from reaching their full potential.
Natalia: I have seen a warm comment by Alberto Cairo about your book. It seems that you have made a stand against perfectionism, which is very heartening. It remains to be guessed how many wonderful projects and works the world has not seen due to creators’ fear of revealing their imperfect creations to the world. Thank you for raising this topic. How successful have you been in practice in fighting perfectionism, both for yourself, your students, and your colleagues?
Manuel: As a perfectionist, I’ve had a hard time appreciating the journey and not being overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed and excel. So in a way, the first chapter of the book was both a form of personal therapy and an attempt to appease the perfectionist tendencies of most creative professionals. In this chapter, aimed at debunking the myth of design being about perfection, I expose the importance of vulnerability, of embracing imperfection, and exploring a wide range of ideas instead of sticking to the same original one.
As I mention in the book:
“A designer’s existence can be one of anguish. Often torn between perfection and reality, we struggle over where to draw the line between consistency and variability, between predictability and novelty, between simplicity and complexity. But it is not so much a line as it is a sensitive pendulum that in the case of design frequently sways toward order, balance, and consistency. This is not always a good thing.”
Natalia: How do you perceive the correlation between aesthetics and ethics in design? Can ethical considerations enrich or influence the aesthetic decisions made by designers? Is it a conflict or a potential synergy?
Manuel: As the aesthetic-usability effect tells us, people perceive beautiful objects as being easier to use, and furthermore, they tend to be more forgiving of beautiful objects. Here we can see how aesthetics is not on the opposite side of the spectrum as function. In fact, aesthetics is a critical measure for usability and functionality. But as much as it hurts, aesthetics can also be a dominant instrument for deceit.
Many dark patterns and deceiving data visualizations come disguised in slick interfaces, well-written strings of text, and compelling charts and illustrations. In the presence of something attractive or well laid out, we might have a strong propensity to believe it is legitimate. After all, there’s no way something so well-crafted could be lying to you. The control that designers have over hacking our minds and molding human behavior is truly impressive. But with great power should come great responsibility.
Thanks to Manuel for these thoughtful answers to my amateur questions.
I hope we enriched you with some ideas! And Manuel’s wonderful book will further inspire you with its profound insights.
I have gathered all the useful links about Manuel Lima and his books for you here:
Thank you for reading!
If you have already had the chance to read it, share your thoughts in the comments — here or on social media!
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