No matter what you are doing - working in tech or writing a book - ethics is incredibly important to what we put out into the world. When we create products, we have a great deal of control over the world that is created within them, and in turn how they impact greater society. This is why it is so important to start building ethics into everything we create. If we don’t apply ethical thinking, we can easily release products that have inherent biases. An example is a hand dryer produced by Dyson, whose sensors did not work on darker skin due to a lack of diversity in their testing pools.
Everybody likes to think ethical concerns is somebody else's job - but no matter how small your believe your role or product to be, we all have an element of control over this. In this talk, Kestral provides us with the following framework to apply ethical thinking in our products or creations from today:
The TEDA framework:
- TEST: who is your tool or product aimed at? How will you test it? Make the test as diverse as possible
- EVIDENCE: think how you collect evidence from your testing. Ensure it is done in a clear and collaborative way, making evidence on ethics as equally as important as any other area.
- DISCUSS: who is in your circle? Have you got the right people and right eyes on what you are making? If you are working solo, you need to ensure you are discussing the product with other people.
- ACT: you can decide what you need to change, check and then go back to the start to test again
Remember - if you haven’t got it right the first time - then that is okay, you are not a bad person. It’s all about the testing and enacting change to ensure your output is ethically sound.