Agile2019

Abstract:
Being a "maker" comes with an ethos. Making things and simply being creative for the sake of creativity can be a bad thing, if we're not willing to be responsible for our legacy and pretend that “design isn’t political.” We'll view case studies of companies and products that are making our lives and our society worse—sometimes unintentionally. We'll discuss Dark Patterns, and how they can cost millions of dollars—and even human lives. Finally, we'll investigate three areas of transformation where we, as an industry, can do better:

• Self-identity: Transform our beliefs to shift from pure craftsmanship to becoming the makers of social good, evolve our definition of success from “moving fast and breaking things” into the sustainability and health of our society.
• Connection: Engage with as many people as possible in our companies (beyond just tech), overcome our biases through diversity and inclusion, and share beliefs and values that empower our partners and us to care about people, together.
• Future-proofing: Ask questions to one another to collectively identify the emerging risk zones for our products and services using a variety of tools, including EthicalOS, moral value maps, “worst-case scenario” workshops and more.

Learning Outcomes:

• We are not the Creative Class anymore; we are now the Responsible Class: why ethics are product designers' core responsibility in this day and age.
• We can’t do this alone: why it is vital to connect with as many people as possible in your company and build a foundation of shared beliefs.
• Tools and techniques for ethical decision-making at scale: for your design team, your partners, and stakeholders.

Attachments:

• design_ethics_0807_agile.pdf