Design Ethics¶
Reflection¶
Ariel Guersenzvaig
In this first class we talked about technologies and how they can give clues on what a society or community values. Technologies can be rejected because of what they stand for rather than looking at what it is offering in itself. Technological determinism is coined by Thorstein Veblam which talks about how technology is what transforms society. That it is an agent of social change, and molds behaviors and interactions.
We also talked about technologies being used to problem solve nature. Seeing parts of nature as something that needs to be solved. The example was of a machine that was trying to solve the problem of a baby sleeping. In this way, technology was used to try to solve something that we frame as a problem that otherwise could be seen as something natural.
Another topic is about types of ethics such as care ethics, indigenous ethics, and professional ethics. In general care ethics is where the actions of caring are towards those who are vulnerable or in need of support. Indigenous ethics would be looking at a set of social practices and our relationship with the land in respect to indigenous practices. Professional ethics is seeing our profession as something that we do because we see it as valuable. Not just acting to get paid for a job but because we feel a commitment or responsibility in what we do.
In relation to designers, to be a responsible designer would be to see it as a way to care for and not just about something. With designing responsibly, it can be done so by creating spaces that foster valuing caring for others over caring about things. There is an importance of framing why we value things and designing from a perspective of our values rather than a duty of fixing or solving a problem. In this way it can take us out of a savior mentality which a designer can often fall into. By involving our own responsibility it moves a designer from basic understanding and empathy to an active responsibility and cause for care.