As we see the mighty tech organizations get into trouble time and time again, I can’t help but think about the people working on those teams. I’ve been lucky to work for a small team that talks about what the right thing to do is often enough to feel good about our decisions. But I do know that building communities and systems at scale is challenging to know exactly what impact decisions will have.
This is to say I think we have been under preparing ourselves for the responsibilities we actually have as designers and employees of companies that actually have big impact in how the world works.
I’ve written, deleted, re-written, then deleted several paragraphs about this already in this email. That tells me I have to really do some more sorting out of my thoughts, but in the meantime here’s a list of ways I think designers and others in tech can, with knowledge, help in small ways improve the organization they are in.
Learn more about diversity and inclusion
Study ethics in Journalism
Study data security
Learn from the hypocritical oath
Read Mike Monteiro’s new book Ruined by Design (my next read)
Demand better, thoughtful practices
That’s all I have to say today, but if you are interested in this space, I’d love to talk to you.
🖤
Geremy