Ethics for designers
Most designers I interact with care about ethics. Ethics being the decision making process we execute to make a choice best aligned to our purpose, values and principles. In fact, most of these folks I interact with care about this a lot.
But here’s the problem. Most of these folks work within organisations that lack ethical clarity. Most organisations are driven by legal boundaries. Or rather, interpretations of legal boundaries. Most organisations prioritise business focused metrics. Often at the expense of outcomes that matter to the people said designers are designing for. Most organisational structures — and market structures for that matter — make it harder than it should be to design the most socially preferable products and services. Most organisations default to what is socially acceptable. In other words, what they can get away with.
This is most organisations. And, it’s pretty well summed up in this research from MIT.
“There is no correlation between the cultural values a company emphasizes in its published statements and how well the company lives up to those values in the eyes of employees.” Donald Sull — MIT Sloan School of Management and co-founder of CultureX
So, the question is, what do ethically motivated folks do about it? Do they stay and try design for change? Do they seek greener grass somewhere on the other side? Do they go off and start their own thing…?
There are no easy answers. But, because I get asked this all the time, I figured I’d start writing about it.
So, if you’re one of the many who finds themselves at ethical odds with their employer, here are some simple tips to move forward.
These first three tips focus on stuff you can do in your current job.
Tip 1: Lead with empathy
This might sound obvious. This is something designers are taught to do. But just because it’s obvious, and something that’s taught, doesn’t make it easy.
You gotta do what you can to try and understand where decisions are coming from, why they are made the way they’re made, how certain decisions are incentivised and disincentives and remember, perhaps more than anything else, that an organisation is just a legal fiction. People, their ideas and their actions make an organisation what it is.
Connect with these people. Get to know them. Try to understand what motivates and constraints them. Work with them to make progress.
You might be surprised by how supportive folks are.
Tip 2: Start tiny
Change is hard. But it has to happen. We’ve got to solve some seriously big problems. Otherwise our future might not be so bright.
the thing is, even though these are big problems, the best way to tackle them is through collective and consistent tiny action.
These tiny actions are easier to do. They’re less ocntronfing. they’re easier to “sign off on”. And, the best part? they compound over time…
Compounding is powerful.
Tip 3: Tool up
Having models, methods and tools at your disposal decreases the difficulty of doing the stuff you wanna do. It can help you think and act with greater confidence. It can also increase the confidence others have in what you’re doing. Often folks don’t like to jump first. Show them they aren’t. Ease their discomfort. Help get those tiny actions over the line.
All of this is designed to help you quickly and effectively figure out if staying and change making is the right option for you.
If you make progress with tiny ethical actions, great. You might be able to start a bit of a movement. Over time there’s potential that this could change the course of the organisation.
Throughout this process it’s important to be empirical. the more you can show the better.
But, if nothing goes your way, it’s worth considering different options.
There are lots of organisations out there, like Impact Labs (mostly focused on engineering folks right now), that you can connect with. There are also lots of great groups and communities you can participate in.
My simplest suggestion, however, is to start outwardly communicating your intent. Write and speak. Make your position communicable. Help folks on Twitter, LinkedIn and other ‘platforms’ understand who you are, what motivates you and what you’re trying to do next.
Explicitly communicating this intent increases the likelihood you gain access to others who might be able to help. This might well land you a new gig that helps bring your purpose, values and principles to life.
If you’ve got questions, let me know. I’m an open book.
