Ethics and Design. This could be the title of a conference dedicated solely to this theme, as the field of exploration is vast, the implications and the stakes important.
Thus, in 2017, Mike Monteiro wrote a code of ethics. The result of a long reflection on the role of designer, it takes a critical look at the profession and the work we do. Before offering you a translation, a few things about its author.
Authors biography
Mike Monteiro is an American designer. He is the author of several books on design with the constant concern to challenge both the vision of design and the place of the designer in our societies.
Through his agency Mule Design, he strives to create ethical designs, involving the user, and questioning the classic customer relationship. Mule Design has worked for Microsoft, TaskRabbit, Financial Times, Wikimedia Foundation and many more.
Designer's Code of Ethics
1- A designer is primarily a human being
Before being a designer, we are human beings, subject to a social contract: we share the same planet. By deciding to become a designer we recognize that our work will impact, even hurt, other human beings. We should therefore always consider the impact of what we do and offer to the world. It is our duty to leave the planet in a better state than the one in which we found it, we do not have the right to release ourselves from this obligation.
When we work on products that increase the need for income gaps or class distinction, we fail in your civic contract and therefore also as designers.
2- A designer answers for his work
Design is a discipline of action. We must take responsibility for our work, it bears our name. While it's impossible to predict exactly how our work will be used, we shouldn't be surprised if harmful grassroots work ends up hurting. We cannot be surprised that a gun is used to kill someone. We cannot be surprised that a database created to catalog migrants is then used to deport these migrants. When we consciously realize a product that is used for harm, we are denying ourselves. When we unconsciously produce something that serves to hurt others, because we have not considered the possible ramifications of our work, we are doubly guilty.
Our work is our legacy, it will survive us. And he will speak for us.
3- A designer puts impact before form
We must consider the consequences of our work more than the intelligence of our ideas.
A design does not exist in a vacuum detached from everything. Society is the largest system we can impact and everything we do is part of that system, for good or ill. We must always judge the value of our work on the basis of its impact rather than on the basis of its aesthetics. An object made to hurt a human being cannot be considered well designed, whatever form it takes, because good design is design that does not hurt others. No totalitarian regime is well designed, because it was designed from the ground up as totalitarian.
A broken rifle is a better design than a working rifle.
4- A designer is hired for his expertise beyond his work
When you are hired to design something, you are hired for your expertise. Our job is not just to produce work but to assess the impact of that work. Our job is also to report the impact of this work to our client or employer. And if this impact is negative, it is our honor to report it to the client and, if possible, to eliminate any negative impact of this work. If we cannot eliminate the negative impact of your work, we must prevent this work from seeing the light of day. We are not hired to simply push pixels, but to assess the economic, sociological and ecological impact of any work that is asked of us. If you don't pass these tests, destroy your work.
A designer uses his expertise in the service of others, but without being a slave. Saying no is an essential skill of a designer. Asking why is also one. Rolling your eyes to the sky is not one. ask yourself why we produce something is infinitely more important than wondering if we are capable of doing it.
5- A designer seeks criticism
No rules should prevent us from seeking criticism, whether from our client, the public or other designers. We should instead encourage criticism of your work in a way that always be able to improve it. If our work is not able to withstand criticism because of its fragility, it should not exist. We should accept criticism wherever it comes from.
When practiced correctly, the role of criticism is to evaluate and improve a work. Every criticism is a gift that allows us to improve. It helps prevent unfinished work from seeing the light of day.
Criticism should be sought and welcomed at every stage of the project. You can't make up a cake once you've baked it. But you can give yourself every chance of succeeding with your project by seeking feedback as quickly and as often as possible. Asking for feedback is an integral part of our job.
6- A designer must know his audience
Design is an intentional solution to a problem with a set of constraints. In order to find out if you have succeeded in solving this problem, you must meet the people living with this problem. If you're part of a team, your team should reflect this entire audience. The more your team is able to get in tune with your audience, the better you can respond to the issues they are experiencing. Your team must be able to tackle a problem through different points of view, different needs, different experiences, but also different backgrounds. A team with a single point of view can never beat a diverse team.
What about our empathy? Our empathy is a nice word to mean “exclusion”. If you want to know how a woman uses an object, include a woman in your team.
7- A designer does not consider anyone as negligible
When you decide to do something for an audience, you also decide which audience you are neglecting. For years we pretended that the people who weren't essential to our project were negligible. We were deciding that some people in the world were not worthy of our interest.
Facebook now has 2 billion users. 1% of those 2 billion people, a marginal number, is 20 million people. These are the people we considered “negligible”, our “exceptional cases”.
When you treat something as marginal, you're just setting the boundaries of what's important to you. —Eric Meyer
These exceptional cases are the transsexuals who find themselves at the limits of our projects forcing the use of “real names”. It is these single mothers trapped by these forms requiring the signature of both parents. It is these elderly migrants who would like to vote but cannot receive a ballot in their language.
These people are not negligible. They are human beings and deserve the best of our work.
8- A designer is part of a professional community
You are part of a community and the way you do your job and behave impacts everyone within that community. Just as high tide carries boats with it, defecating in the pool affects all swimmers. If you are dishonest with your client or your employer, the designer who follows you will suffer. If you work for free, the same will be expected of your successor. If you don't resist when you are asked to do harmful work, the designer who follows you will have to work twice as hard to make up for your lack of courage.
Although a designer has an obligation to earn a living to the best of their abilities and chances, doing so at the expense of other designers hurts the whole community. Never sacrifice another designer for your personal advancement. This includes redesigning someone's work, doing work for free or unsolicited, and plagiarism.
A designer should strive to build a community, not divide it.
9- A designer welcomes an open and diverse competition with open arms
Throughout his career, a designer seeks to learn. This involves confronting what we do not know. It involves listening to the experiences of others. To welcome and encourage people from different cultures, different origins, different experiences. We must make room to accommodate these people considered marginal by the profession. Diversity leads to better results and better solutions. Diversity leads to better designs.
You will never be wrong working with someone smarter than you. —Tibor Kalman
A designer leaves his ego at the door, he knows when shut up and listen, he is aware of his biases and welcomes criticism with benevolence. He fights for to make room for those who have been forced into silence.
10- A designer takes the time to think about himself
Nobody ever makes the decision to put their ethics in the closet, it happens in a way insidious and very slowly. It's a series of small, seemingly insignificant decisions that suddenly lead you to realize the filter system of a major arms manufacturer.
Take the time to reflect on your occupation each month. Evaluate every decision made recently. Are you staying consistent with your ethics or are you slowly compromising yourself with each raise?
Have you deviated from your path? Correct. Your workplace is the opposite of your ethics? Find another job.
Your profession is your choice. Do it right.
Mike Monteiro
To conclude
It seemed important to me to translate this text by Monteiro, both for its commitment to developing Design and for the message it conveys. And even if I do not agree with all of his message, I remain convinced that he is important for our profession.
So let's design with passion and ethics, and that's how we will work to improve the world!
Original article: https://muledesign.com/2017/07/a-designers-code-of-ethics
Simon Vandereecken, UX-Designer @UX-Republic
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