Generally speaking, folks don't have to subject themselves to our designs, and when they do, they can resist the behavioral adjustments. There are exceptions, of course: children are often seen as having less ability to resist adjustments, and less choice about what they experience. That's why they have parents.
When a tool becomes omnipresent or necessary to access something we consider non-negotiable, influence approaches coercion. An example of this might be the design of voting machines. If electronic voting is your only option, and the design of the machine (whether industrial or software) influences you to vote a certain way, that's obviously an ethical issue, especially if that influence isn't apparent. I see little ethical dilemma in the design of a children's toothbrush, though. You can make an environmental argument, sure, but that's a decision I think we make collectively (either through government or popular sentiment/market forces), and that collective decision will decide the success or failure of the product. --Amy Jones -----Original Message----- From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Jennifer R Vignone Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 11:42 AM To: disc...@ixda.org Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Are We The Puppet Masters? The Ethics of IxD. "Influence" and "coerce" are different in that coerce has the notion of force associated with its meaning. Advertising may influence but I don't think it coerces. Would you fall into submission so easily to a commercial? What is "maximum persuasion"? I think people are influenced as much as they allow. "Persuade" implies using an argument or reasoning, hopefully backed by fact, which is not necessarily "influence" or "coercion". There are usability issues with how words are being switched which confounds this discussion. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help This email is confidential and subject to important disclaimers and conditions including on offers for the purchase or sale of securities, accuracy and completeness of information, viruses, confidentiality, legal privilege, and legal entity disclaimers, available at http://www.jpmorgan.com/pages/disclosures/email. ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
