Dec. 21, 2023, 9:19 p.m.
Ethics and design - Koos Looijesteijn's design newsletter Issue #21
Koos Looijesteijn's design newsletter
Alright, we have some catching up to do! Already in October, I finally got to publishing some of my ideas on design ethics. The thing is, I'd been thinking about that for years. In fact, it's not unlikely that you signed up to this newsletter because you read one of my 2019 posts, like about what I believe design should be about, or the six questions every designer should be able to answer.
I lost count how many drafts for my unifying theory of design ethics I discarded. Truth is, I don't have one. Usually, ideas come while I'm writing, but I just ended up with a few very basic notions. Like, you avoid a lot of ethical challenges if you just chose the right employer. I ended up writing six posts rather critical of the design profession and business in general.
Turns out I'm not the only one who's somewhat disappointed with how things are going in design. The UX Collective's yearly State of UX is even darker. (And mentions my Are design ethics useless? post!)
Anyway, writing these ethics posts wasn't always easy, as it confronted me with my own carelessness and stupidity in work decisions. I'm not done with the topic just yet, but I'm looking forward to writing about more frivolous things like how to share a digital business card via your own website.
Oh, on that note—now that Web 2.0 has really ended, I feel that having my own website and a newsletter is the best way to have a resilient presence online. With your own domain at a decent hosting provider, nobody's going to block you, cancel your account or mess with your 'verified' status. Posts on a website are forever accessible for people online (unless you decide to take them down). And with a newsletter, you will never lose access to your audience.
The free, open web is really quite awesome. Despite what some developers make you believe, building—I should say: writing—your own site has never been easier. If that's something you're considering (or never considered because it looks cumbersome): the Own Your Web newsletter is a great start to get into it.
While we're at it: consider switching your main browser to Firefox if you're still on Chrome.
Google and Chrome are increasingly user-hostile, postponing updates to content blocker extensions, demanding users disable content blockers on YouTube and baking ad-tracking straight into the browser.
But Firefox usage has declined. I don't know why—it's a great browser that gets very frequent updates! Now, in some parts of the world, usage is getting close to only 2% though. When it gets lower, institutions there may decide to stop supporting it. And then Firefox users will be forced to use Chrome or Safari. (Some newer niche browsers like Brave, Arc and Vivaldi just have Chrome's engine under the hood.)
I want a free, open web for everyone, not one that's owned by one or two corporations.
Happy holidays and see you in 2024!
From my blog
How to make digital business cards and share them via QR codes | Koos Looijesteijn
1990s tech finally has become useful. And maybe itâs better than the yet-to-be-released NameDrop?
Organizations are ant colonies | Koos Looijesteijn
Every time I see leaders mess something up, I think of the ant colony.
Your job defines you | Koos Looijesteijn
You better pick the right one!
Businesses donât hire designers for their good work | Koos Looijesteijn
They hire designers to grow.
The most important question in design: whoâs gonna pay me? | Koos Looijesteijn
If youâre good at deciding who you work for, it can avoid some serious worrying about other decisions.
https://www.kooslooijesteijn.net/blog/design-ethics-useless.
Who is responsible for the impact of innovative products? | Koos Looijesteijn
And why is it designers?
Bookmarks
