Ethical Design Why Is It Critical for UX Designers
                     Ethical Design: Why Is It Critical for UX Designers?
How many times have you seen design solutions that showcased male chauvinist attitudes or
marketing  content  that  exhibited  racial  or  gender  biases?  The  content  that  designers  create
represents our social thought, values, and culture. Similarly, any product’s design embodies a
value system, clearly indicating the designer’s beliefs and moral principles.
While the biases in some design solutions and content are deliberate and unethical, the creators
of other designs and content consciously adopt an ethical stance and reject such biases. The
intent of a UX designer to design great products that follow moral principles is ethical design.
In this article, I’ll describe how unethical designs occur, as well as explain the concept of ethical
design. I’ll also describe how you, as a UX designer, can create change within your company—
merely by following the best ethical-design practices. 
The Pervasive Need for Ethical Design
The question of ethical design is relevant for all products, and you can find examples of failures
to meet this need across a diverse range of use cases and contexts. For example, a video of two
Facebook employees using a soap dispenser in a company washroom went viral on Twitter. The
footage revealed that  when a white  employee  used the soap dispenser,  he received the soap
easily. But when a black employee put his hand under the sensor-driven soap dispenser, he got
no soap at all—even after multiple attempts! The reason: the sensor wasn’t able to sense his
hand!  This  is  a  typical  example  of  how  people’s  racist  biases  can  impact  human-machine
interactions if product developers and designers fail to recognize such possibilities.
You’ll find such examples of unethical design across almost every product domain. Racial and
gender bias often result from unconscious UX design decisions and content strategies that exhibit
various  sets  of  biases.  For  example,  if  a  toy  manufacturer  were  targeting  a  mixed-gender
audience, why would they show only boys playing with the toy?
You can find such examples everywhere!
The Concept of Ethical Design
Ethics comprise moral principles that dictate what we should and should not do in particular
situations. Based on value judgments for good and bad, ethics dictate our duty and obligation to
propagate  the  good  and  denounce  the  bad.  Thus,  ethical  design basically  means  making
conscious  design  decisions  that  do  good  and  do  not harm  anyone—either  intentionally  or
unintentionally.
Following ethical principles for content development means avoiding plagiarized or fake content
that would detract from a content provider’s value proposition, as well as providing citations and
crediting sources for content.
Meeting the ethical  parameters  for design is  comparatively  difficult.  Consistently  applying a
moral code when making design decisions requires subtle perceptions of right and wrong. From
choosing the skin colors for emojis to common visual metaphors, every wrong design decision
can  demean  certain  people,  depending  on  their  gender,  race,  religion,  language,  or  other
dimensions of diversity.
Here are some areas on which you need to focus as an ethical UX designer:
1. Usability—The  most  significant  consideration  when  designing  user  experiences  is
usability,  which  refers  to  how efficiently  and  satisfactorily  a  user  can  accomplish  a
specific goal, using a particular feature, design solution, or product. It is our moral duty is
to design interactive user interfaces that are easy to use and, in some cases, that prevent
deadly consequences! Remember the false missile threat in Hawaii back in 2018?!
2. Privacy—As the  digital  world  has  expanded  at  a  rapid  pace,  privacy  has  become  a
concern  that  corresponds  to  ethical  design.  Personal  information  has  not remained
personal. Big companies and organizations have access to plenty of private data. As UX
designers, we are responsible for using this information appropriately. The advantages of
using this data include our ability to shape and improve the user experience. Still,  we
should know where to stop and how much access to users’ data is actually necessary.
3. Influence—Often,  we  must  influence  users’  behavior  and  thought  processes.  The
boundary between white-hat persuasion and grey-hat or black-hat persuasion sometimes
becomes obscured. Persuasion tactics that change users’ perspectives and convince them
to buy a specific subscription just to increase conversions are highly unethical.
4. Sustainability—Have you kept the environment, climate change, and natural resources in
mind when designing your product? Sustainability is a significant ethical factor that you
must consider. We must foster sustainable consumer conduct to avert overuse!
5. Society—As UX designers, we must be conscious of our products’ effects on people’s
overall mental health. As an ethical designer, you must align your work with the needs of
your global and local communities, politics, economies, and people’s health.
The Challenges of Incorporating Ethics in Design
Let me make one thing loud and clear: design ethics are not about making value judgments about
anything.
If you work as a UX designer, you might not have the opportunity to participate in such noble
initiatives as treating patients in a refugee camp. However, you can still endeavor to be ethical in
all that you do when designing a product. Your design solutions don’t need to change the world.
All you need to do is align your design decisions with society’s and your industry’s values and
beliefs.
For example, when you’re designing a B2B (Business-to-Business) Web site or an enterprise
app, your design must focus on business conversions. Nevertheless, despite your adhering to
such business and professional objectives, you can perfectly align your design solutions to ethics
—for example, by ensuring equity for all genders, races, and ethnic groups.
Balancing your professional goals and moral values when designing user experiences is what
ethical design is all about.
Ethical Design Practices
When a page or other content takes a few seconds to load, apps usually display a small animated
progress  bar  or  other  indicator  that  represents  the  loading  process.  This  is  a  kind  of
microinteraction that gives users feedback about background tasks and is an excellent example of
ethical design. It is unethical for any business to neglect giving users feedback when there are
delays.
Twitter’s  letting users choose to use dark or white backgrounds is another  great example of
ethical  design.  Depending  on users’  visual  comfort  levels  and lighting  conditions,  they  can
choose their preferred background for the app.
All the buzz about designing superior user experiences, maximizing ease of use, and engineering
faster loading times follows the ethics of serving customers better. Respecting customer’s time
while  avoiding all  kinds  of  discriminatory  messaging through your  design solutions  is  what
ethical design is all about.
Conclusion
Because the rapid proliferation of digital platforms is now connecting people across all cultures,
ethnicities, and age groups, ethical design has become essential. Every digital platform is equally
local and global, so you can no longer bring your cultural and geopolitical biases into your UX
design decisions.
As a UX designer, you should uphold ethical-design practices in making all design decisions.
Ensure  that  no  product  design  or  user-interface  elements  exhibit  discriminatory,  abusive,  or
regressive  messages  or  values.  By  focusing  on  ethical  design,  you  can  help  your  company
emerge as a truly global brand.
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