Week 7: Design and Ethics

Week 7 Reading notes:

Taylor, Damon Design Issues, 2013, Vol.29(3), pp.52-63

By reading this essay, I learned what "ethics" means in the design industry. This "ethics" is not what we usually think of as moral ethics. I think it is like a compass for designers to guide the direction, and a tool for enterprises or designers to judge themselves. As described in the article, the evolution history of socks is from the original wool or silk socks, later replaced by cotton nylon. The machines that make socks are constantly being upgraded. However, no matter how the material of socks is changed, how the production process is changed, its essential function will not change, the user's demand for it will not change. Janet's luxurious sock service and Faisal's utilitarian kit mentioned in the paper, although these two designs are feasible and interesting at present, they are unnecessary. The user's demand for socks is only to cover the feet and keep the feet warm. These innovative feelings will only cause more inconvenience to the user. This is why the product already exists today, but has not been popularized. Therefore, when designers design some products or systems, they should not only seek innovation, but also be practical and truly understand the needs of users.

The article mentioned the development of a product service system. Since 1999, Blacksocks ™ Internet has been operating a so-called sock supply system. By using the access and distribution models made possible by the expansion of the Internet, and by taking advantage of people's growing remote shopping and willingness to obtain services the company provides the so-called "socks regular delivery" service, users only need to register and choose their preferences, every three months after the user through the courier to receive new socks. The service is meant to help consumers avoid "boring" stocking purchases. And that may be a clever idea. For companies that want to constantly learn from consumers and improve their services, "mail orders guarantee regular contact with customers." The development of this system can help the sustainable development of sock manufacturers. Here, the "ethics" is that the designer should consider whether the product or system can help the enterprise to survive in the commercial market competition for a long time when designing or help the users achieve the needs. Even though the service may not have many users who choose to use it, it was a good new model system in those days.

In fact, most companies are simply trying to survive the competitive business war and stay in business. To achieve this goal is nothing more than to "please" users, and most businesses understand this. "To producers and consumers to establish a close relationship is involved in more detail to understand the features, so the" user-centred design "this concept, by studying the consumption practice, enhance the manufacture, the sale and use of objects perceived value, this concept has led to the formation of fundamental changes to the design of awareness and the role of the designer (Taylor Damon, 2013). Social trend increasingly expects designers have the comprehensive ability to understand consumer behaviour and their cognitive process. Designers are increasingly involved in strategic planning and market potential analysis of projects. Brands are also paying more and more attention to consumer response to product testing. The ethics of this part is, the designer needs to know why to design, what is the purpose of design.

Summary, design ethics are changing all the time, and designers have more and more to consider -what is the purpose of the design, whether the company can maintain its business, whether the design will have an impact on the environment, whether the design can solve users' problems, and so on. From these considerations, the designer can get the design direction and judge whether his design is feasible and meaningful. That's why I think of ethics as a compass for designers, and a tool for designers to judge themselves.

Week 7 Lecture notes:

The identity of the designer is intimately tied up with ethics and morality. As a profession a designer will face challenges that confront their character and their values through the choices that they need to make in their day to day role.

What your ethics are in a personal sense and what your ethics are in relation to your profession can often be two different sets of values. Defining the boundaries between them will ultimately shape our decisions as designers.

Ethics comes from the Greek work ‘ethos’ which means habit or custom and ethics essentially are about leading a good life, living well and making the right choices. It’s a foundation that leads us not to just make the right choices but gives us the ‘want’ to make the right choices because of the person you are. This process is something that is learnt and something you practice over time, to the extent that it becomes second nature.

To decide what is right or wrong we use a system of values and principles better known as morality. This governs our behaviour by dictating the difference between what is right and wrong and guides us towards understanding what is good and what is bad behaviour. Our morals define who we are and direct our own personal code of conduct throughout our lives. Ethical decisions in humans between what is right and wrong varies and depends on our individual belief system. This can become problematic as to what is acceptable is an individual’s choice and a personal standpoint. Taking the Ashley Madison example by looking at preventing the airing of such a morally incorrect ad campaign you encroach on the principle of freedom of speech. So very quickly the whole situation about what is right or wrong becomes very grey and difficult to define.

We can sum up an ethical position using three key rules:

The greatest good: Finding the action that will foster the greatest happiness for the most concerned.

The golden rule: Drawing on empathy to treat others as you wish to be treated.

Real world ethics: “Similar to common sense” but more like a learned behaviour where as humans we all share similar moral rules and values for life almost without thinking.

Ethics are a very subjective problem and in design our personal morals and ethics may be challenged. So do we walk away from jobs that challenge our ethical make up or do we participate in the work and shape the dialogue with our own point of view. This is a question that designers are faced with and ultimately shape the way we work.

Week 7 Tutorial notes:

Ethics are different with morals, it rules for a set of values and it’s applied everywhere. Some things are said to be done for “the greater good” but what is good to do is actually just common sense. We assume that everyone comes from a similar position when it comes to judging what is right or wrong, but personal ethical standpoint are greatly influenced by our own experiences. We need to challenge what we know and are comfortable with by talking to other people and learn about the community or global view on things. It is hard to be able to follow ethics and morals consistently throughout life because it requires effort (washable diapers), money (environmental friendly car) or sacrifice (convenience of travelling with a car vs walking). 

Designers often have a say in material choices (sustainable or recyclable), but not much power in the manufacturing of products, such as discrimination of employees or poor working environment for factory staffs. It depends on the company to make decisions that are following good ethics, such as Alessi changing their manufacturing of products back to Italy after 3 years in China even though the cost of labour is lower to maintain the ethics of producing good quality, handmade, Italian products. It is also depending on the marketing people to not skew the truth for the sake of selling the product as a “green” product, such as Apple promoting “cradle to cradle” product lifecycle when most macbooks are not even repairable. As a designer we have to take time to reflect on our work and ask ourselves questions like: “are we designing products that are good for humanity?” and “does my code of ethics align with the values of the company that I work for?”, to become a good designer. Ethical design are good for humanity, and an example for this is the “Hungry Puff” project that won the DIA Design award in WA, which is an empty cardboard box in supermarket that you could buy and donate to Foodbank for them to help poor children in school to access nutritious food. Group Reflection and Discussion:
We could design stuff that impacts our morals. We want to be responsible with what we are designing but feel that the industry will challenge that. Sustainability is not as easy as we think. Everything has an impact and that is kind of disturbing us as future designers.