"Everyone in a complex system has a slightly different interpretation. The more interpretations we gather, the easier it becomes to gain a sense of the whole."
"Without reflection, we go blindly on our way, creating more unintended consequences, and failing to achieve anything useful."
-Margaret J. Wheatley
Incorporating Ethical Thinking
The question of building an ethical digital product never contains just a simple yes or no, it is a conversation. By incorporating steps within the process to do deeper thinking around potential outcomes, teams can come to not only understand their impact on an individual user but on a neighborhood, a community, a country, or the world.
These exercises are a follow on to the Hippocratic Oath for Technologists which was released in April of 2018. The short list of exercises to the left, work together or alone and help cross-functional teams gain comprehension of how the collective and the individuals involved feel about the impact they will make in releasing the product into the world.
Work in Progress
These frameworks are open sourced and a work in progress. They assume an equal power dynmaic between members of a digital product team and that they would be completed as a group, not by a single individual. If you have feedback to share (positive and constructive is greatly appreciated) you can fill out this form or make a pull request.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely, Mariesa Dale