Perceived Benefits and Drawbacks of Ethical Design
Parkkamäki, Lauri (2023)
2023
Master's Programme in Human-Technology Interaction
Informaatioteknologian ja viestinnän tiedekunta - Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2023-11-21
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2023111510000
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-2023111510000
Tiivistelmä
There is a widespread need for ethical design in today's world; everyone faces minor ethical issues, whether they are biases or violations of user control, on daily basis. Although ethical evaluation is generally thought to be good, it is not yet clear what the benefits of ethical design really are and whether the benefits outweigh the downsides. Traditional UX design primarily focuses on immediate gains in user experience and monetary value, overlooking alternative metrics and long-term considerations. Ethical design emerges as a promising design paradigm in this regard.
This thesis investigates the perceived benefits and drawbacks as experienced by ethical design practitioners, aiming to render the effects of ethical design more tangible and comprehensible to a broader audience. Moreover, the concrete evidence of ethical design could act as an argument business-wise; it is easier to advertise ethical design to clients when the implications are clear. This research in a way answers to whether ethical design should be practiced or not and why. This, in turn, might spark motivation in individual designers.
The methodology of this qualitative study consists of two interviews and a diary study. Four participants, proficient with ethical design, with different backgrounds and motivation were recruited. Since the impact of applied ethics is quite difficult to measure or compare definitively, the benefits and downsides are measured by how the effects are perceived by professional designers. Affinity diagrams are used to sort and categorise the data into handleable themes.
As a result, a number of benefits were found and categorised along with their downside counterparts. The tone in which the professionals discuss about the benefits points strongly to the notion that they are worth the extra effort, in comparison to non-ethical design. This is also backed by the vast number of perceived benefits compared to the number of identified downsides. Furthermore, the results will also open the possibility of discussions among designers, stakeholders, customers, and end-users about the benefits and downsides of ethical design.
In conclusion, the research implicates ethical design has more benefits than downsides. However according to the interviews, it will bear even more fruit in the long run. The responsibility of delivering ethically-driven products and services needs to be shared to be able to harness the full potential of the benefits that comes with ethical design. The sooner it is adopted the better; ethical design has more positive impacts than negative ones which makes it a cost-effective investment both for individual designers and companies.
This thesis investigates the perceived benefits and drawbacks as experienced by ethical design practitioners, aiming to render the effects of ethical design more tangible and comprehensible to a broader audience. Moreover, the concrete evidence of ethical design could act as an argument business-wise; it is easier to advertise ethical design to clients when the implications are clear. This research in a way answers to whether ethical design should be practiced or not and why. This, in turn, might spark motivation in individual designers.
The methodology of this qualitative study consists of two interviews and a diary study. Four participants, proficient with ethical design, with different backgrounds and motivation were recruited. Since the impact of applied ethics is quite difficult to measure or compare definitively, the benefits and downsides are measured by how the effects are perceived by professional designers. Affinity diagrams are used to sort and categorise the data into handleable themes.
As a result, a number of benefits were found and categorised along with their downside counterparts. The tone in which the professionals discuss about the benefits points strongly to the notion that they are worth the extra effort, in comparison to non-ethical design. This is also backed by the vast number of perceived benefits compared to the number of identified downsides. Furthermore, the results will also open the possibility of discussions among designers, stakeholders, customers, and end-users about the benefits and downsides of ethical design.
In conclusion, the research implicates ethical design has more benefits than downsides. However according to the interviews, it will bear even more fruit in the long run. The responsibility of delivering ethically-driven products and services needs to be shared to be able to harness the full potential of the benefits that comes with ethical design. The sooner it is adopted the better; ethical design has more positive impacts than negative ones which makes it a cost-effective investment both for individual designers and companies.