Cultivating Ethics – A perspective from practice

Ethically responsible design of technology has been under prolific discussion in recent years. Since design practitioners play a big part in shaping technology, their understanding of ethics is important. Much research has been conducted on ethics in design, but research findings are rarely used in industry. Our study addresses this gap by creating a space for conversation for design practitioners to explore the meaning of design ethics and related challenges. Our findings confirm the complexity of integrating ethics into the everyday practice of design, and suggest co-creating possible solutions as a way to start cultivating ethos in practice. Practitioners envisioned ideas for a toolbox concept, thoughts on how to integrate ethics into existing practices, and a visual moral compass. Our findings translate into a set of questions aiming to make ethical issues in practice visible, and to stimulate discussions around what designers considered to be ethical challenges.