Design activity is intended to produce a blueprint of any system. It identifies various architectural components and captures data flows across them. Ethics by design is a proactive approach to embed ethical decision making into blueprints of the system which would lead to responsible outcomes. A simple example would be that social media platforms like WhatsApp or Facebook show the total amount of time, a user has spent on the platform in the day and there could be an additional feature of restricting the usage above a certain time period of the day. This can ensure a responsible outcome where people would be aware of any addiction problems like Technophilia or Internet addiction disorder. Such awareness can trigger a self-regulated course correction even before addiction disorder develops. This way ethics by design is a widely appreciated and emerging paradigm of design. However, this also results in a simplistic understanding of the issue.
The ethics by design paradigm suffers from certain classical dilemmas which makes its application harder in any organization. A successful resolution of these dilemmas not only ensures productive and sustainable outcomes but also generates a huge value proposition for the organization. Let us understand what these dilemmas are.
1. Ethics vs Economy: One of the most common dilemmas organizations face is whether they should be focused on the economy or focused on ethics. Thinkers like Milton Friedman have argued that only the social responsibility of businesses is to make profits. Organizations give primacy to the economy over ethics. Whenever any profit or growth risk arises, they prefer to side by the argument of money rather than values. The key philosophy is "I exist therefore I ethics" rather than "I ethics therefore I exist". For example, Google did not desist from the idea of sharing user data with third-party plugins like Adsense in order to generate profit in its early days. The resolution of this could be to find a sustainable win-win solution for ethics as well as economy rather than placing them at loggerheads with each other. This is possible when a company build a brand value around ethics and use it to promote their economic proposition. For example, Apple built a brand value around user data privacy. This has helped Apple in strengthening its user base.
2. Status quoist vs Reformist: Another common dilemma with the application of ethics into the design is whether you wish for a status quoist system or a reformist system. A status-quoist system could be a minimalist system that aims to simulate the existing real-world scenarios into the system. The reformist system would be a futuristic version of real-world situations. The classic example could be online matrimonial platforms. Most of the platform have questions related to caste color and horoscope embedded into match making solution. However, a futuristic system would identify the evolving values around the world. Thus it would nudge the society into the future rather than being trapped in the tradition. For example, after #Black Lives Matter backlash, Shaadi.com was forced by the user community to drop the skin tone filter. The dilemma is about a potential loss of user base who may not like a reformist system. The reconciliation happens when the platforms or system becomes powerful enough to act as a trendsetter and trend changer among the users. However, this is possible only when it takes an initial risk of being reformist in the first place, and success in the pursuit is not always guaranteed.
3. What is ethical vs Unethical: A classic question which is often the first to be raised is what does designer consider ethical and what is unethical? This question contains many sub-questions. First, Ethics is a social-cultural concept. Hence oftentimes, time, place, and situation determine what is ethics. Second, a person's ethical values may or may not be aligned with the organization. Third, the ethics of a company may not match with the larger social trend or majoritarian view. For example, an individual may espouse libertarian views that call for complete freedom, autonomy, and data control. Whereas the organization may be willing to build a business around data of the users. Similarly, an American MNC may promote liberal values at the workplace like allowing the employment of members of the LGBTQ community whereas the law of the land like Iran may not support this. Largely, this could boil down to liberalism vs socialism debate or orientalism vs occidentalism debate.
4. Technology vs Human: The advent of artificial intelligence has resulted in confusion among designers. Every system needs moderators. For example, social media platforms need moderators who could screen, filter, and report messages. Similarly, an assembly line production system may need a moderator for verification of product quality. In some places, the role of the moderator is played by humans as plant supervisor or community managers. However, the human mind is known for its biases and stereotypical thinking. This results in unjustified outcomes. In other places, technology has replaced humans. Thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning, advanced robotics and deep learning algorithms have taken the place of humans. However, technology is also not free from bias. The case of anti-black bias in the face recognition algorithm is a classic case in the picture. Even the soap dispenser installed in the Facebook office was known to not release the soap when a black hand waves below it. Hence the designers face the dilemma of whether to use humans or technology for the purpose of moderation.
5. User control vs Business control: Another big dilemma which designers or business owners face is who should be in the control of the things. Should the user be allowed control over their data or interface like Vimeo does or Should the owner of the app control the data/features? Should JeevanSaathi.com allow users to define their own questionnaire for the prospective partners or should it restrict them to use the available filters provided on the platforms? The new age wisdom is "leave it to the user" that allows users to create custom pathways and devolve maximum functionality to users. However, it is often code-heavy and difficult to manage. It leads to the additional burden of moderation. For example, Twitter and Youtube may allow users to upload user-generated content. This is their main value proposition however, it leads to another challenge of moderating and filtering the abusive content. The key to resolve this dilemma could be to build a business model around a user-driven user moderated system like Reddit has done on social media space. However, this is easier than done.
6. Cognitive miser vs Customization abilities: There is a deep division in the user community. On one hand, There are users who look for readymade click-to-go solutions. They do not wish to spend time or mind in designing path flows or creating custom forms. On the other hand, we have tech-savvy users who want complete control over the system. They wish for maximum customization. Hence, the designer faces a dilemma of who should he design for.
7. Value system contradiction: On one end of the spectrum user is looking for free speech, control over own data, full privacy and custom abilities, claiming them to be liberal value system. On the other hand, the sustainable system calls for user moderated and community embedded solutions. Hence it requires the best of both the world i.e. liberal as well as the social school of thought. The resolution could be to assess the system from a post-ideological standpoint.
8. Fluidity vs constancy of ethics: Ethics itself is a fluid concept. It changes with time, age, place, culture, person, or communities. Hence how should designers accommodate differing viewpoints and what should be the core value system of the designer? A general principle which many organizations follow is "Customer first". The customer choices guide and shape the ethics of the system. However, there are pitfalls in this. The majority view is not always just view. Once caught, the organization often loses a lot more value than it gains in the short term. For instance, look at how fast the YES Bank or Kingfisher lost its market value due to unethical issues. This is an unresolved classic question of whether society drives ethical value change or ethics drives social change.
There are many other concerns and contradictory viewpoints that a designer faces like "Design for whom?". Is it design for majority users or niche users? Is it for expert users or naive users? The community embedded solution might be biased by the majority view. The experts-oriented solution may not be inclusive. The art of the designer trade lies in reconciling these seemingly contradictory choices. Market research, user interviews, surveys, A-B testing, and focused group discussions are some of the ways designers resolve these conflicts.
There is no straight forward yes/no response to these dilemmas. The best an organization can do is to take some pro-active measures and put necessary safeguards in place so that it can avoid these pitfalls. Some of these are listed below:
1. Appoint a 10th man or a devil's advocate: There should be a chief ethics officer whose team's job should be to audit all the systems and processes against these dilemmas and potential pitfalls.
2. Vision, and mission of the organization: A clear understanding of vision and mission statement of the organization helps in more realistic and conflict-free objectives and goal-setting behavior. Hence, this clarity is a must.
3. Decision-making: Decision-making cues should be clearly defined. For instance, a general approach followed by organizations are Customer > Investor > Society > Employees > Entrepreneurs (Self). This leads to a "customer first" approach. But at times, a situational reshuffling in this hierarchy can lead to better decisions.
4. Ethics test: Rarely any company screens its employee on the basis of his/her ethical value system . Though, in the long term, it is the single most important thing to see in an employee because skills can be learned over a period of time.
5. Personal wisdom: Employees especially designers need to put their own critical mind and wisdom while designing systems. They should establish connections with the users and should learn about user behavior in a deeper sense. At the same time, they should deploy their own wisdom in differentiating right from wrong.
6. Data and Randomized controlled Experiments: The latest mantra in the industry is "supremacy of data". The system should be flexible enough to conduct certain tests and experiments in a randomized controlled manner. This would allow an evidence-based policy and design decision.
Incidentally, one should keep in mind that nothing comes free. Everything has an inherent cost. The cost here is time and effort invested in design process which many organizations do not value. Organizations should understand that it is a small price that companies pay in order to reap larger than life dividends like ethical branding and development of the exclusive user community of the platform or product or any system.
