Ethics of Design
In user-centric design we try to understand the struggles our users have when navigating from point A to point B through our apps and websites. We find those pain points by collecting and compiling data using surveys, doing interviews, and various other ways of learning about our user’s behavior.
This is all done with the user’s consent. We then use our research to problem solve so we can make the experience on our platforms as seamless as possible. Lastly, we’ll redesign, do more tests on our new design to see if we found a viable solution and implement the design if proven successful.
If you’re in UX design then what I just explained is a pretty textbook description of what you do on a day to day basis, however, designers do have a lot of weight on their shoulders these days. The documentary that came out on Netflix called the Social Dilemma highlights a lot of ethical gray area in the tech industry. Designers have a lot of influence on human psychology these days, and not just the front end color and font options which are proven to influence the psyche as well, but the behavior a person starts modeling when using a product.
A quick example starts in using cognitive behavioral psychology. It has been proven that people respond better to positive than negative reinforcement and it’s the easiest and most effective way to change your behavior or someone else’s. I don’t say this to manipulate those around you, but just to illustrate the power of positive reinforcement. If I reward myself after exhibiting a certain behavior then it starts to become a dopamine release in my brain which then becomes a habit and less and less I’ll need the stimulus to work out AKA the reward. For example, say I want to start working out but it’s so hard to motivate myself to go to the gym. If I reward myself with a smoothie or my favorite cookie after the gym then I’ll be more likely to follow through with the action of going to the gym.
This is why gamification is so popular with apps right now and it seems like a lot of companies are looking to implement this. But why?
Well…if you get rewards for using the app like tokens to spend or a satisfying stimulus like the heart button on Instagram for example then the likelihood of you using that app for an extended period of time increases. Our interactions and are time are priceless. We can never get our time back, yet the more you give your time away to certain platforms the more they benefit monetarily off of your actions. TikTok is the best example of this consistent stimulus and it’s working. I often hear my friends say, things like, “before I knew it an hour went by” when using that app and it works to keep people on their platform for extended periods of time.
With all of that being said, where is the line of ethics for design in the case of affecting human psychology? Will designers have to push back for more ethical designs at some point in order to protect the psychology of the users? Or will the user’s input be used to drive a profit for capital without regard to how it affects the user in the long run?
I do think the Social Dilemma got it right when it brought to light that we are at a pivotal moment where society is teetering on these ethical concerns of social and individual psychology in regards to the masses using technology.
