Final Reflection Essay
First of all, this class really got me thinking in different ways and with a more critical eye towards the ethics behind design, companies, and the products around us. I will be doing this reflection through the view of an example we discussed in class. Before this class, I was not looking at TV advertisements in the way I do now. The Nike advertisements that we watched in class really changed my mind about how companies use minorities to benefit themselves. While their intention was to spread positivity, it was all based around their company. Nike portrayed itself as being an almost charitable company for surprising Justin Gallegos with an endorsement deal. This seems like a feel-good story, but in reality, why does Nike have the right to make this kids story, their story. This is what Nike is great at, they are great at taking external issues and making them about the company in order to benefit itself.
Nike is a public company, so its goal is to benefit its shareholders. By definition, this is Nike’s end goal and promise to its investors. Through this class, I learned that not everything is as it seems and most things you have to do a deep dive into to discover more details about. For my final product critique, I learned a lot about the history of Tide-Pods. This simple product has so much history to it, and that it just one product. Everything around us is the same, so it is important to really look into products and companies before using them.
On the other side of this, as a designer, it is important to be a worldly person. I think this is something that Stanford is actually really good at teaching us. We are on campus and in classes with a very diverse group of people, so thinking in a worldly a holistic way becomes natural. From this class, I learned that as a designer it is important to really look at the use of your product and make sure that by designing it the way you are that it is not removing anyone from the population that can use it. This is important especially as we move forward in the world as designers because every product that is designed and launched to the public needs to not have a bias. Designers shape a lot of the world we live in through app algorithms, software, and products, so each and every one of us in the PD department plays a role in how people act.
As many of us will go on to be software developers, this is especially important because this involves censoring and choosing content that people see. For example, if the people working at YouTube have a bias, then the content that will be recommended through the algorithm to people will be bias as well. And since billions of people use YouTube, these few people in charge of this algorithm can change the world in a huge way.
In the future, I want to continue to have discussions about the ethics of products, companies, and designs with my peers, friends, and family members because I think this will lead to a better world. Going into my senior year, I will also take these thoughts with me through every project that I do because I think it is so important. Going beyond Stanford, I want to start companies, so Iwhen hiring people and compile teams, it will be important for me to create diverse teams that think differently as this will lead to better innovations in the world.
