Educational Workshops on Ethics

Designing The Ethical Journey: create tools to bring ethical reflection into the design process

The connected devices around us are created with good intentions but often generate vastly problematic unforeseen consequences. In this workshop, we will work on tools for the creators of new connected products, focusing on the moments where decisions around data come in conflict with ethical values. How might we support designers and developers to take ethics into account throughout their product design process?

Overview
Participants will learn about 1) core ethical theories such as “care” ethics and 2) key design attributes such as “speculation” that we have identified in relation to these theories. Participants will work in groups to put these two elements together and design toolkits that support ethical thinking for designers and developers.

Keywords: data, IoT, ethics, service design

Outcomes of the workshop will include:

–  learning about consequences of decision-making around data management: what data is throughout your product, how it flows, when it is exposed

–  understanding foundational ethical theories

–  toolkit for ethical thinking about data and design

–  designing for difficult decision-making and speculative world-building

 

 

Designing with Data: how can we integrate ethical thinking into how we design when we design with data?

At this moment, new ideas and products are being generated with speed and agility that is as exciting as it is terrifying. While the excitement comes from the seemingly unlimited potential we have as designers and developers to work with technology, connected data and imaginative interfaces, the terrifying nature of these new products is often simply unforeseen, under thought and out of our sphere of knowledge until the moment when a clash occurs between the product we have created and the high values towards which we strive.

In this workshop, we will strive to create ethical connected products that make the invisible data flows and algorithmic processing visible. Participants will prototype connected products and use tools for ethical reflection about their products as they work, especially focusing on the use of data and the visibility of algorithms in product design.

Therefore, they will learn about challenges related to data protection and privacy, consider how the product can make more visible the algorithms and data flows that are often tidily packaged into a black box.

 

Overview

Throughout the workshop, we will share the ethical tools that we have designed as part of a larger European project on ethics, data and IoT. By using the tools and engaging in the workshop, participants will learn about 1) core ethical theories and 2) key design principles that we have identified in relation to these theories.

Keywords: data, algorithms, ethics, IOT

Outcomes of the workshop will include:

–   prototyping connected products

–   making the invisible visible

–   understanding foundational ethical theories

–   learning about the consequences of decision-making around data and algorithms

 

 

Data flows

More and more data flows into and around our daily life, and new products are by default expected to be “smart” because of how they capture and capitalise upon the data they collect. How might we provide feedback for users and designers so that they can better understand the seemingly abstract data processing that is happening behind the scenes?

At this moment, new ideas and products are being generated with a speed and agility that is as exciting as it is terrifying. While the excitement comes from the seemingly unlimited potential we have as designers and developers to work with technology, connected data and imaginative interfaces, the terrifying nature of these new products is often simply unforeseen, under thought and out of our sphere of knowledge until the moment when a clash occurs between the product we have created and the high values towards which we strive. In this workshop, we will strive to create ethical connected products that make the invisible data flows and algorithmic processing visible. Participants will prototype connected products and use tools for ethical reflection about their products as they work, especially focusing on the use of data and the visibility of algorithms in product design. Therefore, they will learn about challenges related to data protection and privacy, consider how the product can make more visible the algorithms and data flows that are often tidily packaged into a black box.

Overview

In this course, we will work with several products that are described as “smart” because of how they create and use data. We will examine: what does this “smartness” actually mean and how can we communicate the capturing and processing that goes into it? Throughout the workshop, we will share the ethical tools that we have designed as part of a larger European project on ethics, data and IoT. By using the tools and engaging in the workshop, participants will learn about 1) core ethical theories and 2) key design principles that we have identified in relation to these theories.

Keywords: data, algorithms, ethics, IoT

Student will:

• Learn how to communicate ideas through video prototyping
• Design system visualisations
• Bring mathematical concepts to life
• Test + iterate
• Analyse

Outcomes of the workshop will include:

–   prototyping connected products

–   making the invisible visible

–   understanding foundational ethical theories

–   learning about the consequences of decision-making around data and algorithms