Whether we’re brainstorming ideas or reviewing products or designs, there are a number of key concepts that we can use to guide our thinking:
Design should not manipulate or deceive users, but rather empower them to make their own decisions. A well-considered product gives users the ability to make deliberate choices about how they interact with that product.
For example, allowing users to customise their experiences with settings, designing helpful “opt-in” and “opt-out” choices for users, avoiding dark UX tactics that take advantage of users, etc.
Designers and product-makers should always consider the impact of their work on users, society, and the environment, and take responsibility for those impacts.
Products must be designed without bias or discrimination – design must not unfairly advantage any group over another.
Products should be open and transparent about its process, use of data, and any potential impacts on the user, by default. Users have a right to know what they are signing up for when they agree to use a product – and this should be made clear and accessible.
The scope here includes: sanctity of life, inclusion, privacy, and emotional well-being. By design, products or services should respect users' privacy – protecting their personal information – and afford them the right to be themselves and not be penalised for that.
These concepts apply to Ethical Design across a number of categories (this is not an exhaustive list and will grow):