There are growing concerns around the world about ethics in design, which means to design from an ethical viewpoint.

UX design is viewed as an important part of the service development process, and it has allowed for design to be focused on clients and users. However, there are many ethically gray areas, such as collecting private information or manipulating users, and many of these are not regulated. The fact that each of these areas has its own standards is an issue that will require much consideration in the future.

Denmark is known as one of the most advanced countries in the world when it comes to thinking about ethics in design. To hear directly from practitioners in the field, our editorial team flew to Copenhagen and visited Charlie Tango, a Danish design company which actively works with integration an ethical viewpoint in their design processes and is working to raise public awareness about the topic. We talked to Rasmus and Lea, both UX designers and members of the management in Charlie Tango, about ethical design in digital products and the Digital Ethics Compass which is being implemented in Denmark.

Throughout the past 25 years, both Rasmus Sanko, Chief Strategy Officer, and Lea Senderovitz, Chief Experience Officer, at Charlie Tango, have worked with user centric design, developing cutting edge digital solutions for both the Danish public sector and within the private sector, addressing areas such as healthcare, banking, real estate, and aviation. 

Interviewed by Ryo Sampei, Producer of Spectrum Tokyo

The Digital Ethics Compass

Ryo: Hello, Rasmus and Lea. Today we’d like to ask you about how to integrate an ethical viewpoint into the design process so that we can share your words with designers in Japan. Rasmus, you gave a presentation about ethical design at Design Matters Tokyo, a design event originating in Denmark which was held in May 2022.

Rasmus: Yes, I spoke about design and ethics at the event, with a focus on the Digital Ethics Compass. Afterwards, I received several questions from many Japanese designers, so there definitely seemed to be an interest for it.

Ryo: Can you explain what the Digital Ethics Compass is?

Rasmus: The Digital Ethics Compass is a tool developed by The Danish Design Center in corporation with Charlie Tango and a couple of other agencies and it is available for everyone to use . 

It is a tool that helps companies ask the right ethical questions when designing a product or a service in order to make sure that you have at least considered the possible ethical dilemmas. 

It is divided into three main categories: Data, Automation, and Behavioral Design, and further divided into smaller, more concrete examples so that we can check whether for instance: users are in control; we are avoiding wrongful manipulation of users; anyone can understand our products and we are not creating inequality. It’s a method for thinking of the responsibilities and influence of the service creator.

In 2021, the Design Council in England published a report titled “Beyond Net Zero: A Systemic Design Approach”. This report took a similar approach, looking holistically at social and environmental issues and promoting design which takes those into consideration. This movement is continuing to spread, and the compass is at its center. In the future, designers will have to take more responsibility for the things they create.

Ryo: I’ve seen posters of the compass put up around the office. Giving a visual representation helps everyone remain aware of it. I think it’s wonderful that The Danish Design Center developed it with the intention that everyone should use it.

It feels like more and more people in Japan have recently become interested in ethical design. However, it is currently difficult to imagine ethical design being realistically applied in Japan. When a service is developed, the main focus is on schedule, budget, and profits, while the ethical viewpoint is given a low priority.

Rasmus: The truth is that it is not easy to work with ethical design in Denmark either. Budget and deadlines are also important here. That is why, in order to engage in these new discussions about ethics, we need the tool.

Lea: Saying that I think that the ethical considerations are something that the Danish people in general take pride in and I think we do experience a movement where the client’s requirements are not all about profit. There is definitely a bigger focus on also being ethical as part of the business goals.  

Rasmus: And that becomes a focus for the designer. Part of me thinks, “If a designer doesn’t do it, who will?” Some team members think about business development, while others work on technical implementation. But when I think about who will uphold the ethics, I think that UX- and Service designers are in the right place in the process to dive in to those considerations”.

Ryo: When implementing the Digital Ethics Compass, are there any items which are particularly easy to take on?

Lea: One focus which is relatively simple in Denmark is the handling of data. Europe has regulations for the protection of private information in the GDPR, so as a start one simply needs to follow these rules. First, you should know what is legal and illegal. Gathering and using data is not necessarily unethical, as long as you follow the most basic rules, you should be fine.

Ryo: On the contrary, are there any difficult aspects?

Rasmus: Yes. I can mention automation and algorithms where many parts are not revealed to users, which makes them complicated. The meaning of disclosed information, where data is acquired, and what it is used for are often unclear. Handling those aspects is difficult. Depending on how information is used, it can be used for bad things, so we have to constantly ask ourselves questions like: “Is this the right thing to do? If many companies used this method, would it cause chaos? Etc.” 

Ryo: Whenever I see an automated ad or marketing campaign, it makes me wonder, “How did they get my data?” There are services which have our credit card numbers and other personal data, that also links the info to another related service, and eventually we lose track which is pretty frightening. 

Also, if a service is made too UX-driven during development, might it not result in users being manipulated?

Rasmus: Our basic premise is not to manipulate users, but in a way all design can be seen as manipulating users, so not manipulating anyone is impossible. The job is to keep focusing on the ethical aspect of what you do.

Denmark’s Education and Ethics

Ryo: Since coming to Denmark, I’ve talked to many people, and each of them seemed to be very interested in their effect on society. Also, the culture of trusting other people and helping others seems to be deeply rooted. Does that valuing of trust connect to the emphasis placed on ethics?

Rasmus: Hm… I think that the way we think is instilled in us from when we are very young and the Danish school system evolves very much around each of us learning how to think for ourselves and think critically about what we learn.

Lea: Yes, in Denmark, children are taught to want to understand, ask questions and to have their own opinion. 

My daughter recently started high school, and she is attending Det Frie (The Free Upper Secondary School). At that school, students are entrusted with various decision-making rights. For example, they decide which teachers to hire and whether to relocate the school. Of course, not every school uses this system, but it’s a very Danish project. They are responsible for making their own decisions democratically.

I hear that Japan is built on a more social-centric design where people are more influenced and guided by external factors and are more aware of themselves as part of a group? It is interesting how different our ways of thinking are.

In any case, it is really difficult to change things within any system or an organization. The Digital Ethics Compass is a very hands-on tool that can help creating new ways of thinking about things and make them operational.

Ryo: It may be too simplistic to think that the use of ethics in design is all the same. It may be easier to categorize and subdivide before discussing the topic, as The Digital Ethics Compass shows.

Rasmus: That is one reason that The Digital Ethics Compass was created as a way of making ethical design tangible.

How to Spread an Ethical Viewpoint

Ryo: Even if someone has a strong ethical viewpoint, it must be very difficult to spread it throughout an organization. How do you enlighten your team at Charlie Tango?

Lea:  Even for us it was – and is – a difficult subject. We have spent a lot of time discussing what it means and how to work with it. We have invited relevant experts in to give lectures and, especially within the UX design team, we have taken time out in out weekly team meetings to talk about subjects like ethics and sustainability, and we now have quite a strong focus on it. 

I think that it is comparable to how it was with user-centric design 20 years ago, when it was a new thing, and it took a lot of talking about and convincing to make it an integrated part of the design process. Now, almost every company and every customer takes user-centric design for granted and understand the business value of creating value for the users. I think that the same thing will happen in the reflection of ethical viewpoints. Everyone has to go down that path, and no one can say it doesn’t apply to them.

Ryo: How should one get started if they want to spread that way of thinking?

Lea: I think we need to talk about it a lot. The management in the companies around the world need to focus on it. And relevant stakeholders, like us – the Designers – need to consciously work with integrating it in out processes, and having The Digital Ethics Compass is a good tool for this. 

Rasmus: At Charlie Tango we choose to make it a big priority. Both within our own company and when working for clients. We work with a lot of public clients where it plays important role, and we consider carefully if the work we do violate our ethical ambitions. For instance, we clearly will not work with manufacture of weapons or tobacco products. Sometimes it is more complicated ☺ 

Building a UX-driven Organization

Ryo: Other than the designers, are other roles at Charlie Tango sensitive to ethical viewpoints?

Lea: I think many people at our company are interested, but we might have different levels of concerns. The designers, as a species, are very interested in constantly looking out into the world and developing their methods accordingly, while in the tech department it might evolve more around making the solutions accessible, which is also an ethical concern.

Rasmus: In Denmark, normally a UX designer will play a very central role in the beginning of the project. We conduct in-depth investigations, understanding users and business requirements, setting the direction, and drawing the framework for the project, which will then include setting a lot of the ethical requirements. But this does not mean that the rest of the project team does not have an interest in it. 

Lea: We work in a very UX- and purpose-driven environment.

Ryo: Designers sure have an important role.

Rasmus: I know that some designers have a variety of roles. There are places where the designers are more full-stack, taking on both what we call UX- and Visual design. At Charlie Tango we divide the roles into different areas of expertise and put great empathies on the expert role. Both within design and Tech. The UX Designers come from the field of anthropology and sociology. They have a responsibility to see the bigger picture. A bit like a producer. 

Act with Belief to Create Change

Ryo: If a company over-emphasizes their ethicalness, do people think that they’re doing it just for marketing or PR?

Lea: Maybe, but I don’t think that ethical practices and marketing are necessarily mutually exclusive. Something that which is very useful for society can also be very expensive and unattainable, but more and more we see that it can support the commercial agenda as well, which is good. It’s not impossible for business and good deeds to co-exist simultaneously.

Rasmus: Recently, the founder of Patagonia gave away the company so that its profits can be used to protect the environment. This act of social good also resulted in good PR for the company, making it a very clever move. Now everyone else is thinking of doing the same thing. Even large companies are starting to think that ethical acts are meaningful.

Ryo: The case of Patagonia had a big impact on many people. Is such a significant action required to enact change in how organizations and society act and think?

Lea: I definitely think that it has a great impact, but changing how organizations and society work is a difficult and slow process. And probably very different in for instance Denmark and Japan. If for instance, as we spoke about before, Japanese people, more than the Danish people, see themselves as part of a large organism, acting on your own and, in a way, disturbing the peace, might be more challenging, but I think you have to believe that you can change something in order to make a start. You have to have faith that raising your voice and taking responsibility is meaningful. As a person, as a designer, even as a company, you have to start one step at a time.

Rasmus: And maybe by talking more to each other like this, we can learn from each other. In fact, there are many design jobs in Denmark, so we’d love to have Japanese people come here.  You have such talented designers in Japan, so we’ll be waiting!

Ryo: Of course, we’ll deliver your message. Rasmus, Lea, thank you very much!

Related links

Charlie Tango