How algorithms are pushing the tech giants into the danger zone
The algorithms Facebook and other tech companies use to boost engagement – and increase profits – have led to spectacular failures of sensitivity and worse…
Digital Ethics
What We’re Leaving Out of the Discussion Around Inclusive Design
To truly achieve inclusiveness, we need to first look at who we’re excluding.
“Diversity” and “inclusion” aren’t interchangeable. Here’s how to use them correctly
Words matter.
Design thinking is the opposite of inclusive design
NYU professor Natasha Iskander argues that design thinking only serves to uphold the status quo.
We Need Software to Help Us Slow Down, Not Speed Up
Speed often improves life. But the recent techlash has been driven in a fundamental way by the grim side effects of this acceleration.
UK Government Proposes Five Basic Principles to Keep Humans Safe From AI
A new report by the Lords Select Committee in the UK claims that Britain is in a strong position to be a world leader in the development of artificial intelligence. But to get there—and to keep AI safe and ethical—tech firms should follow the Committee’s newly proposed “AI Code.”
visakan veerasamy on Twitter
we already live in a boring dystopia pic.twitter.com/4feoT4DWSC— visakan veerasamy (@visakanv) April 29, 2018
Morality and the idea of progress in silicon valley
Will Tech Companies Ever Take Ethics Seriously? – Member Feature Stories
The Cambridge Analytica scandal was the latest hit in a long series of controversies involving leading Silicon Valley tech companies. Facebook, Google, Apple, Twitter, and Uber, to name a handful of…
Women and Minorities in Tech, By the Numbers
More women than ever are finding work in the legal, medical, and technical fields. So why are women avoiding computer science?
Big organizations may like killer robots, but workers and researchers sure don’t
Tech firms and universities interested in building AI-powered weapons for lucrative military contracts are, predictably, facing some significant pushback.
Slack’s new policy lets bosses read employees’ DMs without consent
Alec Baldwin Says Trump Tweeting About Him is
Josh Constine on Twitter
Facebook has allowed so many worst-case scenarios to come true there’s too many to count, but I’m going to try *deep breath*— Josh Constine (@JoshConstine) March 19, 2018
Shame the Confirmshamers | Viget
#Confirmshaming: one more dark pattern the web doesn't need.
'Fiction is outperforming reality': how YouTube's algorithm distorts truth
An ex-YouTube insider reveals how its recommendation algorithm promotes divisive clips and conspiracy videos. Did they harm Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency?
An Introduction to Value Sensitive Design
Complexity Bias: Why We Prefer Complicated to Simple
Complexity bias is a logical fallacy that leads us to give undue credence to complex concepts. Faced with two competing hypotheses, we are likely to choose the most complex one.
Your First Thought Is Rarely Your Best Thought: Lessons on Thinking
Most people have no time to think. They schedule themselves like lawyers. They work in five- to eight-minute increments, scheduled back to back. They think only in first thoughts never in second thoughts.
Scott Berkun on Twitter
1. The elephant in the room for #designethics is if you design things for a corporation you inherit their ethics, or lack their-of, whether you notice it or not.— Scott Berkun (@berkun) February 27, 2018
The Tamagotchi Trap – Human Systems
On the Dangers of Mindful Design, Well-being-based Design, Behavior Change, etc
Dieter Rams: If I Could Do It Again, “I Would Not Want To Be A Designer”
The lauded Braun designer reveals how architecture has influenced his work, what Apple gets right, and the kind of design he truly hates.
Designing the Designer – One Design Community
Jesse James Garrett’s Midwest UX 2017 Keynote
Why Dark Patterns Won’t Go Away
Users hate them. They’re bad for business. So why do they persist?
No one’s coming. It’s up to us. – Dan Hon
Adapted from “We Are The Very Model Of Modern Humanist Technologists”, a lightning talk given at #foocamp 2017 in San Francisco on…
Fitness trackers could pose stalking risk
Fitness trackers and other wearables could allow users to be identified and followed without their knowledge. Research carried out by Symantec has shown that devices that use Bluetooth LE broadcast their unique hardware address, which is similar to a MAC address, even when they are seemingly offline.
A popular jogging app is leaking military secrets
The fitness tracking app Strava released a heat map last fall showing jogging routes logged by its users around the world. But in recent days, independent military experts have noticed the map discloses the locations of one normally secretive set of fitness buffs: military personnel from the U.S. and other Western nations, deployed at sensitive … Continue reading “A popular jogging app is leaking military secrets”
How To Design Non-Addictive UX (It’s Really Not Hard)
To wean users off their devices, UX designers can deploy the very tricks that made their products so addictive in the first place, writes Bruce Nussbaum.
‘Never get high on your own supply’ – why social media bosses don’t use social media
Developers of platforms such as Facebook have admitted that they were designed to be addictive. Should we be following the executives’ example and going cold turkey – and is it even possible for mere mortals?
Facebook should be 'regulated like cigarette industry', says tech CEO
Salesforce chief Marc Benioff is latest tech insider to raise alarm over social media’s effect on society with comments at Davos
Six Steps to Circular Systems Design – Disruptive Design
Design influences all of us in profound and often unnoticeable ways. From the subtle shifts in our society to the overt impacts that…