Tragic Design

Preface

BAD DESIGN DECISIONS CAN HARM. However, the designers making these decisions aren’t always aware of the responsibilities that come with their profession.

In medical school, the first fundamental principle that students are taught is Primum non nocere, or in plain English, “First, do no harm.” This immediately reinforces the concept that physicians have a lot of power over a person’s life. In contrast, the first thing we were taught in design school was how to draw well in 3D perspective. Our teachers were obsessed with timeless and beautiful designs. We would strive for polished design and were greatly concerned by aesthetic qualities. Accordingly, we were rewarded for following trends and using appealing color palettes. Very rarely were we reminded that we have responsibilities and that what we design has a real impact on people’s lives.

If we were lucky, we had a single three-hour-long class on user experience...and the teacher probably called this a “Human–Computer Interaction” class. For example, in four years at university, neither Cynthia nor Jonathan was required to observe a single user interacting with a product they had designed!

After school, new designers carefully select the best projects they’ve realized and put them into a portfolio. The rest, the bad and potentially dangerous projects, are dumped in an “archive” folder with the hope that no one will ever find it. If you’re like us, you are so ashamed by some of these solutions that you might even rename this folder to something completely unrelated, to make sure that no one ever sees it, even by mistake. Fortunately, this bad design work is forgotten and forgiven! Not a single user will ever have to deal with the consequences of the questionable design decisions that we made as students.

But by focusing on the beauty scale, and allowing for any mistakes to blissfully disappear into an archive folder, our teachers and mentors neglect to address what’s worse than getting a C– in a class. What actually happens with failing projects in the real world? What can we learn from our mistakes, while the consequences of our inexperience are still trivial? We should be taught that, as designers, we have a lot of power to influence the way users interact with our products. And, to quote Spider-Man’s uncle: with great power comes great responsibility.

Our teachers are not the only ones to blame. When is the last time you wondered if your work might have killed someone? This book wants to make sure no designer ever signs off on work without considering the consequences of their decisions. We want to give you tools and techniques, applicable in a real-life context, that will enable you to make fair decisions in difficult situations.

Humans are complex beings with the capability of feeling a huge range of emotions. “Designing with empathy” is a trendy concept. There are a multitude of books, articles, and even design firms focused on this subject. But what does that even mean? What emotions are we really designing for? As designers, developers, and product creators, we selectively choose which emotions to design for and which to ignore. We may say that we apply a user-centered design methodology, but often we don’t even get to talk with a single user before launching our product. The experiences we create affect real people in real situations. Unfortunately, it is not as popular to discuss and debate the responsibilities that come with the great power that we are entrusted with.

We should learn from disciplines outside of our own. For example, in Canada and some places in the US, graduating engineers have a ritual of receiving an iron ring during their graduation ceremony. But what’s the story behind this ring?

In the 1900s, during the construction of the Quebec Bridge, it collapsed, killing 75 people. The collapse was due to an error in judgment by the engineers who designed the bridge. There’s a myth that says the first rings were made from the iron of the collapsed bridge to symbolize humility and to serve as a reminder of their obligation, ethic, and responsibility to the public.

Graduating designers aren’t given rings. This book is an attempt at filling that gap. This book is a call to action for everyone to find their own ring.

About This Book

This book explores the types of harm that can result from what we consider “bad” design. As you will learn, design can kill (Chapter 1 and Chapter 2), can anger (Chapter 3), can sadden (Chapter 4), and can exclude people (Chapter 5). Fortunately there are tools and techniques to prevent causing this harm, and there are many groups, companies, and organizations already helping to make the world a better place. These chapters present examples of bad design and the negative outcomes of these, followed by key learnings. All the chapters end with interviews with leaders who are recognized as authorities in their fields. They were generous with their knowledge and advice, and we hope they contribute to broadening your perspective on the subject of design. You will also find some personal stories on how bad design has had a negative impact, told by the designers who lived them. We appreciate how difficult telling these deeply personal stories must have been, and we hope that they will serve as inspiration for you.

Finally, in the last three chapters of the book we will offer some techniques and activities that can help designers to prevent causing harm unintentionally. We then offer options of things you can do to help and highlight some companies that are already doing amazing work.

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Acknowledgments

Jonathan

To my everything, my wife Forouzan. Not only was it you that shared with me your teacher’s story of Jenny, which sparked the heart of this book, but you have supported me through all the highs and lows of this journey.

To my coauthor Cynthia, this book wouldn’t be half of what it is without your hard work and vast knowledge. Merci beaucoup!

Thanks also to my friends Sam Mazaheri, Chris Liu, and my mentor Andy Law, who have helped shape me into a better designer and person; to Eric Meyer and Jared Spool, who provided critical guidance to me early on; and to all the people along the way who went out of their way to help us. I’ve been deeply touched by the support and kindness of the global design community.

Lastly, to Shawn Chittle, whose tweet to Tim O’Reilly made this happen, and to Tim, who took a chance on me: thank you for the honor of being able to bring light to these important issues.

Cynthia

To my son, Émile, who spent countless hours sleeping on my knees while I wrote this book and teaches me to be the best version of myself, je t’aime Poupou.

To my fiancé, Mathieu, who has heard the story of “How I stabbed my friend” a thousand times, merci Chicken.

This book would not exist if my friend Fred hadn’t almost died. Thank you for not dying that day.

To my coauthor, Jonathan, for hearing my feedback and inviting me to join this project, I owe you one!

To our editor, Angela, for your time, feedback, and patience, thanks.

To all of our contributors, reviewers, helpers, and those who allowed us to use their images, resources, ideas, and words, thank you for your generosity.