One Design Rule to Rule Them All: Towards a Universal Golden Rule for Designers of Human-Technology Interaction

Abstract

This article aims at raising awareness and dialogue about ethical dimensions of human-technology design of socio-technical systems in general, the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) designer responsibility towards users, stakeholders and society in particular, as well as the raise of the dark side of design and the responses of the HCI community to it. This article identifies four dimensions in human-technology interaction design ethics and proposes a universal golden rule for human-technology interaction design. To sum up these different aspects of ethical design and the responsibilities of a designer, this position article concludes with a proposed universal golden rule for designing human-technology interactions: Design as easy to use, honest, sustainable, and safe human-technology interactions as you would want others to design for you.

Keywords

• design ethics
• human-technology interaction
• human-computer interaction
• socio-technical systems
• universal golden rule