Design For Good

We obsess about design at a small studio because we believe it is a gift that can bring peace to the lives and processes of our partners. Despite our love for design, one thing that continues to guide our actions and decisions, is using our gifts responsibly. To sprinkle a little spin on the famous quote from Uncle Ben (from Spiderman).

“With great design power, comes great responsibility” — Uncle Ben.

To us and everyone we call our partners, designing ethically is the only way to go. We are never blinded by the need to look cool, trendy, or be data greedy at the expense of humanity. Doing the right thing for users and the world is a non-negotiable for us.

And if you have taken a few minutes out of your precious day to read this from us, we thank you, and we firmly believe that doing the right thing comes naturally to you too.

Let's step back and look around us for pockets of design decisions made for good; Apple's Face ID data isn't transmitted to their data servers. It is entirely stored on the user's device. A design decision that prioritizes the privacy and security of users and significantly reduces the risks of information misuse.

Spotify demonstrates an ethical design decision by being transparent with their users on what data they are tracking; they have used user-data in witty and extremely memorable storytelling in the past (but, we can dive into that at some other time). Many of their actions give users a non-complicated way to opt out of data collection. These ethical design decisions have helped them build trust.

Privacy is not the only focus when discussing ethical design; inclusivity and accessibility are critical to ensuring that no one is left behind from having a complete and seamless experience when interacting with technology.

It took a while for Emojis, to become representative of all ethnicities, genders, and even disabilities. And when that was done, users across the world had deeply rewarding conversations. Everyone deserves to feel seen and represented in this incredibly connected world, and as a designer, we can make that happen.

Our responsibility as designers must be ensuring that everything built with our gifts enhances the lives of users doesn't take advantage of their trust. Taking this responsibility to heart will bring us all peace as we create beautiful and functional platforms and products.

“Ethics is innately human. If you are passionate about ethical design you must also be passionate about the humans doing the designing. They are not mutually exclusive.” — John B. Johnson, Principal at a small studio

‍

Let’s go build the world some good.