How many times have you been sitting in the room (in person or over Zoom) in which a decision is made regarding ethics? Maybe the term ethics was not used, but you could clearly sense that the decision would have major implications related to the lives of whom you were designing for–positive, negative...or even to be determined. Have you ever been asked to design something that just "felt wrong" but you were being paid to do so and/or your boss specifically asked you to follow through?

Designers play a crucial role in the design of products and services given our ability to research, understand, and translate human insights to a thing that can be created for those same humans to use. And now, more than ever, with a seat at the decision table and technology compounding the impact of all that we do, we have further opportunity to use those skills for good. We can take a more critical look at what is being created and ask the tough questions of our teammates: Is this the right thing to do? Is this really the only way we can approach this problem? What is the impact today versus tomorrow of this decision?

The SDN New York Chapter is excited to announce that Nata Kostenko will be joining us all the way from Sweden to walk us through the application of daily ethical design. She will highlight real world examples alongside a couple different perspectives on approach. From there, Nata will take us through activities to help us learn how one actually practices more ethical design: Should we quote Socrates at standup meetings? Oh no (unless you really want to). We'll explore ways to embed ethics into your design process. We'll play around with some tools, talk about existing barriers, and go through specific examples you might encounter in your daily work. Come as you are and let's untangle this knot together!

What to Bring

+ A laptop to interact with Miro (https://miro.com/app/) boards

+ An active participation mindset, ready to engage with others

+ Your perspectives and questions on ethical design as you have them

About the Speaker

Nata Kostenko, Service Designer & Design Researcher at Scania Innovation Office, Sweden. She works on developing new disruptive opportunities beyond the company's trucks and buses core business. Every day she balances her belief in the power of design to make a difference with the impulse to hide under the covers from the world's problems.

Find Nata on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natakostenko/

Loose Agenda –

** We Will Be Recording this Session but Offer Anonymous Participation through Camera Off and/or Zoom Name Changed**

12:00 pm ~ 12:05 pm: Quick Housekeeping

12:05 pm ~ 12:25 pm: Frameworks to Think about Ethical Design

12:25 pm ~ 1:15 pm: Collaborative Practice Activities

1:15 pm ~ 1:30 pm: Takeaways Alongside Q&A

See you there :)