I have to say I find this thread a little silly. Of course design influences behavior. Everything in the environment influences behavior. We design tools, and we wouldn't design them (or build them) if we didn't want people to use them.
Influencing behavior is not the same thing as coercing behavior. There are certainly ethical implications to design, but the bare fact that design influences behavior seems, to me, to be both ethically neutral and inescapable. Amy Jones -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jared Spool Sent: Sunday, July 26, 2009 3:50 PM To: j.eric townsend Cc: IxDA Discuss Rule Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Are We The Puppet Masters? The Ethics of IxD. <snip> > This discussion, as I understand it, is about whether designs that > unknowingly influence behavioral changes is somehow unethical. Here we > have a design that has produced positive results by doing just that. > Is it wrong? Should the devices be taken off the market? Should > designers have a code of ethics that suggest they shouldn't engage in > such projects? > > That's what I want to know. > > Jared ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
