I work in the field of web design. Or ‘digital design’, or ‘UX’… whatever you’d like to call it, it means that I am paid to manipulate you. This manipulation generally has two goals:
And so we apply all the persuasion techniques we know (“Hurry, only 5 items left!”) and make active use of your cognitive biases, to make sure that you open your wallets and spend, spend, spend.
The problem lies therein that only a handful of people in web design seem to ask the ethics question: Where do we draw the line? Is it morally just to exploit your irrationalities and vulnerabilities? Isn’t it evil to purposefully make you addicted to our services (think: Facebook)?
Of course I have a responsibility in this myself, and in fact I have started such discussions in my own professional context. But as ethical behaviour usually limits a business’ potential for money making, these discussions are met with professionalism, but not enthusiasm.
This is really starting to wear me down, and partly why I am increasingly attracted to the field of architecture. Of course, architecture is full of manipulation as well. As architect Jan Gehl says:
“We manipulate the conditions of people’s lives […] We are manipulating every time we put down a stone.”
But there is a fundamental difference between the manipulating in web design and that in architecture:
In web design, design means ‘manipulating people for their money’. In architecture, design means ‘manipulating environments for people’s happiness’.
And I find the latter a much more attractive thought…
1. UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
On sustainability
2. UNDERSTANDING HOW THE WORLD WORKS
On nature
On human nature
On the meaning of life and living
On culture
On morality
3. UNDERSTANDING HOW CHANGE WORKS
On the Next Level Society
On behavioral change
On marketing sustainability
4-A. FIXING HOW WE DESIGN THE WORLD
On naturalness
On naturalness in behaviour
On naturalness in art
Artworks of interest
On naturalness in architecture
Architecture of interest: naturalness
On livable architecture
Architecture of interest: livability
On naturalness in design
Design works of interest
4-B. FIXING OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OURSELVES
On well-being, self care and happiness
4-C. FIXING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS AND SOCIETY
On responsible business
On Positive Design & design ethics
On privacy
Progressieve bureaus van Nederland, 2021
OTHER NOTES AND WRITINGS
On digital design, CX/UX, and technology
On the travel & hospitality industry
Miscellaneous