On Jul 28, 2009, at 1:33 PM, adrian chan wrote:
Brian,
that's an interesting example, but even tho it's organ donation, i
wouldn't consider it a matter of ethics (ironically, or not, the
person's dead). we need to be careful with words here. the form that
defaults to opt in hasnt really "influenced the user" but has
influenced the outcome. perhaps bias would be a better term. if i
were looking at submitted forms i wouldnt be looking for ethical
violations but i'd be taking the form's bias into account. bias
insofar as user who dont pay attention to the form unwittingly
select "yes".
I dont consider the fact that the checkbox is already checked "yes"
to influence the user. surely a user is capable of unchecking a
checkbox w/o being influenced by its state. or am i making an
assumption? ;-)
If we agree that influence means "to effect behavior" (as it does in
my dictionary), then defaults are indeed influential.
In fact, defaults are one of the most powerful ways to influence
someone (as evidenced by the organ donation example)
If a user *doesn't* have choice...that's something altogether
different (such as coercion)
Josh
________________________________________________________________
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
