Libraries are embracing user experience (UX) design--testing our tools and services for usability, accessibility, and how well they meet our users' needs. Our library websites are easier to use, and our spaces and services are more efficient and inviting than ever before. We've become adept at incorporating user-centered design techniques into our work, making design and content choices that help shape our users' behaviors. We stockpile volumes of data on how users interact with us online and in-person, and our analysis drives our changes to reduce user pain points. These changes have been a boon to library users--or have they?
The social critic Paul Goodman once wrote that "technology is a branch of moral philosophy, not of science." His point was that decisions on how to shape the world through technology were inherently moral choices, concerned with how we ought to live. Our library UX work is no different. Our user research methods are moral choices that affect our users; The data we collect not only helps us, it is likely being stockpiled by advertisers to better understand our users. Our design decisions have ethical implications, too; By working to change our users' behavior, we prioritize our own version of what is 'right.' We've been so focused on solving problems of efficiency and aesthetics that we've lost sight of our moral obligations as designers and content creators.
In this talk, I will explore the ethics of UX design and offer guidelines and techniques (rather than pro- or prescriptions) for making the right--not just the easy or flashy--choices for your users and your library.