Ziqq Rafit

The ABC Methodology, informed by the 3 pillars of modern ethics is proposed to simplify the language of design ethics, making design ethics easier to understand and adopt in practice.

The ABC methodology is the core work that manifests itself in two outputs, Design Ethicquette: Physical Toolkit and Design Ethicquette: Online Evaluation Tool

Design Ethicquette: Physical Toolkit is a tool for designers and design teams to consider ethics in their design process. 

The toolkit is inspired by the three pillars of modern ethics: Virtue Ethics (Alignment), Duty Ethics (Best Practice), and Consequentialism (Consequences). Bridging the world of philosophy to the practical world of design, the three pillars of modern ethics is reintroduced as the ABCs of Design Ethics. 

Design Ethicquette: Online Evaluation Tool is grounded by the ABC methodology just like the physical toolkit. However, the online evaluation tool addresses the limitations of the physical toolkit and goes beyond the 3-5 designers that are in the room when using the physical toolkit.

The platform taps into the collective wisdom across departments, industries, societies, and people online. The platform is inspired by the idea of pairing an online survey platform with a design portfolio showcase website.

The platform leverages the internet and the ease of global reach to provide insights and feedback to designers and design teams on how their designs are received in different contexts, places, and societies. This allows for continuous improvements and the opportunity to mitigate negative impacts.

*This is an ongoing project which requires further testing, resources, and funding. If you are a keen investor or collaborator please connect. Hear from you soon.

In 2019, tech giants Facebook, Google, and Amazon found their way into the courtroom under the receiving end of intense scrutiny from lawmakers and the public. A brutal whipping techlash is perhaps an indicator that the tech and design industry is failing to self-regulate itself and are doing something terribly wrong in all these years of going unchecked. While the invasion of privacy and swinging electoral votes may seem intangible and distant to some, technology and design have done a dire disservice when it leads to innocent lives being taken. 

The rising cases of these alleged crimes committed in the tech and design industry are alarming. The industry is facing an ethics crisis and The Cambridge Analytica saga is one of many that proves it. As Cennydd Bowles puts it “An ethical awakening is long overdue.” Bowles also was quick to point out that paying attention to deeper questions of impact and justice is a sign of the industry maturing which was echoed by sociologist Richard Sennett, “It is at the level of mastery that ethical problems of craft appear.” As an industry, we ought to take action. A complete overhaul, to rectify our ways before we cause a design pandemic.

The question remains, how did we end up in the courtroom in the first place?

DESIGN AGAINST HUMANITY (DAH - pronounced as DUHHH) is an educational card game for horrible designers. A design provocation card game inspired by ‘Cards Against Humanity’ that opens up the conversation around ethics in design. This encourages designers to have a deeper conversation about the purpose, context, and role of design in our everyday lives. DAH hopes to create a world filled with more conscious, loving, responsible human designers, one card at a time.

Featured on Yanko Design.

Over the course of my program, I have been actively engaging with the public in conversations around design ethics. Speaking at conferences with the industry, schools with design students, professionals in design agencies, policy designers, and design teams in the public and private sector has allowed me to have an on-the-ground understanding of the challenges in embedding ethics into the design practice.

The work is unfinished and the conversations have to continue. So do connect if you are interested in bringing ethics into your organization and practice. I would be more than happy to listen, learn, and help in the best way possible. Speak soon.