Universal Methods of Ethical Design 100 Ways to Become More Ethically Aware, Responsible, and Active in Your Design Work

Cultivate a socially responsible design process with Universal Methods of Ethical Design, the first comprehensive survey of ethically centered design practices.

Are you ready to design for good? Join the growing movement of designers, technologists, and organizations embracing ethical design principles to drive meaningful change. This essential resource introduces practical methods and frameworks that foster ethical awareness, action, and reflection throughout the design process. These supports appear in this book in varied forms, including methods, theoretical frameworks, conceptual frameworks, and principles.

Discover actionable strategies across every design phase, including:

• User Research – Gather insights with empathy and integrity.
• Design Scoping – Define goals that align with ethical values.
• Ideation & Concept Generation – Spark ideas rooted in social responsibility.
• Testing & Evaluation – Assess impact with fairness and transparency.
• Product Launch – Deliver solutions that prioritize people and the planet.

Explore diverse, accessible methods that weave ethics into your workflow—covering critical topics like feminist design, activism, privacy and security, legal policy, and governance.

Each method is presented in a clear two-page format:

• Page One offers a concise definition, in-depth explanation, real-world applications, and practical guidelines—with sidenotes for added insights and references.
• Page Two features visual examples and graphics to deepen understanding.

Whether you’re a designer, engineer, manager, or student, Universal Methods of Ethical Design is your essential reference for building socially responsible and impactful designs.

The titles in the Rockport Universal series offer comprehensive and authoritative information and edifying and inspiring visual examples on multidisciplinary subjects for designers, architects, engineers, students, and anyone who is interested in expanding and enriching their design knowledge.

Colin M. Gray is a researcher and designer focusing on human-computer interaction, design, and education. They are an Associate Professor and Director of Human-Computer Interaction Design in the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering at Indiana University, and are also appointed as Guest Professor at Beijing Normal University, China, and Visiting Researcher at Northumbria University, United Kingdom. They have consulted on multiple legal cases relating to dark patterns and data protection and work with regulatory bodies and non-profit organizations to increase awareness and action relating to deceptive and manipulative design practices. Colin’s research and engagement activities cross multiple disciplines, including human-computer interaction, instructional design and technology, law and policy, design theory and education, and engineering and technology education.

Sai Shruthi Chivukula is a design researcher with her research and teaching interests at the intersection of design, human-computer interaction (HCI), design practice, and ethics & values. She is an Assistant Professor of Information Experience Design Graduate Program in School of Information, Pratt Institute, New York. Shruthi takes a pragmatist ethics lens to describe and translate ethics and tech regulation in HCI and design practice and education to describe ethical awareness of technology practitioners, foreground impacts on users (society), and design supports for ethical action in design for both designers and educators.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

360° Design

Ability-Based Design

Adversarial Design

Adversary Personas

AEIO.YOU

Agnostic Design

Another Lens: AirBnB

Anti-Heroes

Black Mirror Brainstorming

CIDER

Critical Design

Critical Race Theory

DAH Cards

Data Ethics Canvas

Data Feminism

De-scription

Design Ethicquette

Design Fiction Memos

Design Justice

Design with Intent

Dichotomy Mapping

Digital Data Governance

Digital Ethics Compass

Dilemma Postcards

Diverse Voices

Empathic Walkthrough

Envisioning Cards

Ethical Contract

Ethical Design Scorecards

Ethical Disclaimer

Ethical Explorer

Ethical Tension Cards

Ethicography

Ethics and Inclusion Framework

Ethics Assessment: Spotify

Ethics Canvas

Fair Patterns

Feminist Interactional Qualities

GenderMag

Hippocratic Oath

Humane by Design

HuValue

In-Action Ethics

Inclusive Activity Cards: Microsoft

Intersectionality

Inverted Behavior Model

Judgment Call

Kaleidescope

Lake of Ethical Tensions

Layers of Effect

Less (Bad) Design

Make it Critical

Maslow Mirrored

Metaphor Cards

Method (Resonance) Heuristics

Model for Informed Consent

Monitoring Checklist

Moral Agent

Moral and Legal Decks

Moral Value Map

Motivation Matrix

Multi-Lifespan Co-Design

Multi-Lifespan Timeline

Nodder's 7 Deadly Sins

Normative Design Scheme

Oracle for Transfeminist Technologies

Participatory Design

Pledge Works

Post-Humanist Design

Privacy by Design

Privacy Futures

Provocatypes and Provotypes

Reflective Design

Refusal

Research through Design Fiction

Responsible AI: Microsoft

Security Cards

Slow Design

Social Accessibility Cards

Social Justice

Speculative Design

Speculative Enactments

Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholder Tokens

TAO Framework

Tarot Cards of Tech

Timelines

Tracing the (Ethical) Complexity

Value Dams and Flows

Value Levers

Value Scenario

Value Sketch

Value Source Analysis

Value-Oriented Coding Manual

Value-Oriented Interviews

Value-Oriented Mock-Ups

Values at Play

White Hat Design Patterns

Workers Tarot Deck

Worrystorm

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

INDEX

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

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The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.