Hasta La Ideas

Universal Methods of Ethical Design is an upcoming book by design researchers Sai Shruthi Chivukula and Colin M. Gray. Aimed at socially responsible designers seeking processes to model, the book is billed as “the first comprehensive survey of ethically centered design practices.”

Are you eager to make a positive social impact through your designs? Join the growing number of practitioners and third-sector organizations who are using ethics-focused design methods. Universal Methods of Ethical Design gets you started with a collection of design supports for ethical awareness, action, and reflection to build socially responsible features, products, and services. These supports appear in this book in varied forms, including methods, theoretical frameworks, conceptual frameworks, and principles.

Explore an expansive landscape of resources across different design phases, including:

– User research

– Design scoping

– Ideation and concept generation

– Testing and evaluation

– Product launch

In this book, you’ll find diverse methods that include a focus on ethics or values, which can support designers and technologists to engage in more ethically aware or value-sensitive design practices. Universal Methods of Ethical Design contains accessible formats to engage with critical concepts such as feminism; design activism; privacy, security, and legal policy; and governance perspectives.

Each method is presented in a two-page format. The left-hand page contains a succinct definition, a full description of the principle, examples of its use, and guidelines for use. Sidenotes appear to the right of the text, and provide elaborations and references. The right-hand page contains visual examples and related graphics to support a deeper understanding of the method.

I realize the images above are too small to read clearly; you can see larger versions of the sample pages here.

The 224-page book runs $40 and will be released next March.