The world works exactly as expected.
The combustion engine that is destroying our planet's atmosphere and quickly making it inhospitable works exactly as we designed it. The guns that cause so many deaths work exactly as they are designed to work. And every time we “improve” their design, they improve in their ability to kill. Facebook's privacy settings, which outed gay teens to their conservative parents, are working exactly as expected. Their “real names” initiative, which makes it easier for stalkers to track down their victims, is working exactly as intended. Twitter's toxicity and lack of civil discourse works exactly as it is designed to work.
The world works exactly as expected. And it doesn't work very well. Which means we need to do a better job of designing. Design is a profession with incredible power. The power to choose. The power to influence. As designers, we must see ourselves as stewards of what we bring into the world and what we choose not to bring into the world. Design is a profession with responsibility. The responsibility to help create a better world for everyone.
Design is also a profession with a lot of blood on its hands. Every cigarette ad is on us. All weapons are on us. Every ballot a voter can't understand belongs to us. Every time a social network interface allows a harasser to find his victim, it's our fault. The monsters we release into the world will be named after you.
This book will make you understand that design is a political act. What we choose to design is a political act. Who we choose to work for is a political act. Who we choose to work with is a political act. And, most importantly, excluding the people we have excluded from these decisions is the most important (and stupidest) political act we have taken as a society.
If you are a designer, this book might make you angry. This should make you angry. But it will also give you the tools you need to make better decisions. You will learn to evaluate the potential pros and cons of what you are working on. You will learn how to present your concerns. You will learn the importance of building and working with diverse teams that can approach problems from multiple perspectives. You will learn how to present an argument using data and good storytelling. You will learn to say NO so that people will listen to you. But most importantly, this book will give you the confidence to do the job the way you always wanted to be able to do it. This book will help you understand your responsibilities.
(Many thanks to Steph Monette for eating weird things with me, and to Seven Morris for filming and editing it all so well.)
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