Do No HarmTips for avoiding the unethical turn of events in user research (and design)

Jen McGinnSenior Manager, User ResearchOracle Middleware User ExperienceDecember 11, 2014

The views expressed in this presentation are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle

What could possibly go wrong?

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Tuskgee Syphilis experiments, 1932 – 1972

3URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Milgram shock experiment, 1961

4URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Stanford prison experiment, 1971

5URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Legislature and policy

International Compilation of Human Research Protections (by US Dept. of HHS, 2010)

• 1,100 laws, regulations, and guidelines governing human subjects research in 96 countries

US Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects (“Common Rule”, 1991)

• Outlines the basic provisions for IRBs, Informed Consent, and Assurances of Compliance

6URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

IRB•Performs independent ethical review of proposed research with human subjects

•Conducts risk-benefit analysis

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An institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee

URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Informed ConsentAmerican Psychological Association (APA)

8URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Informed Consent: Pop QuizFacebook study

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Facebook researcher gets permission to conduct the “emotional contagion” study

Data is collected from 689,003 Facebook users whose news feeds have been specifically altered to show more positive posts or more negative posts to see how they respond

January, 2012

Paper describing the study approved for publication by an editor of the journal Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, Social Science, based on the belief that the study was approved by the Cornell IRB

March, 2014

June, 2014

Paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences, Social Science. All heck breaks loose.

May, 2012???, 2011

Facebook updates their data use policy to include that information they receive about you may be used “for internal operations, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, research and service improvement”

URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Ethical User Research

Your colleague decides to flirt with/ask out/sleep with a participant.

You are interviewing people in their homes. Your colleague wants to ask questions that are potentially embarrassing to them.

Your stakeholder wants to use the videos from usability sessions to evaluate job performance of the participants.

Your participants volunteer information that they are acting in a way that is counter to company policy.

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Hypothetical situations for you to consider

Key take-aways for ethical user research

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• Make the participant comfortable, but keep a professional distance.

• Don’t ask questions unless the answers are really necessary to answer design questions.

• Keep participant details separate from participant data. Even internal participants.

• Don’t expose details from research that may harm or identify the participants.

• Get (IRB) review and approval of research. In advance of user research.

• Ensure that you have the legal right to perform the research in the country and with the age group you are targeting.

• Get informed consent. Inform users of the risks. Allow them to opt out. In advance of user research.

What we’ve learned from experience

Ethical UX designWhat value are you providing to your users?

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Nir Eyal is the author of a great book on designing engaging user experiences, hooked: how to build habit-forming products

URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Ethical UX design

Does the design provide real value to the user? Would you want to use it yourself?

How much would you borrow from another design to create yours?

Would you take on work from a client whose business you are morally opposed to?

How far would you stretch the truth to sell your client’s product?

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Questions only you can answer

URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

Key take-aways for ethical design

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• Work for companies/clients whose business aligns with your ethical standards

• Consider how much you are borrowing from another design – is it ethical? Legal?

• Create user experiences that provide real value to the users

• Create user experiences that do no harm:

• Don’t mislead users

• Design for engagement, not addiction

I know you do all this already, but I need a summary slide

Do No HarmTips for avoiding the unethical turn of events in user research (and design)

Jen McGinnSenior Manager, User ResearchOracle Middleware User ExperienceDecember 11, 2014

The views expressed in this presentation are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle