Building an Ethics-Focused Action Plan: Roles, Process Moves, and Trajectories
Colin M. Gray, Ike Obi, Shruthi Sai Chivukula, Ziqing Li, Thomas Carlock, Matthew Will, Anne C. Pivonka, Janna Johns, Brookley Rigsbee, Ambika R Menon, Aayushi Bharadwaj
Abstract
Design and technology practitioners are increasingly aware of the ethical impact of their work practices, desiring tools to support their ethical awareness across a range of contexts. In this paper, we report on findings from a series of six co-creation workshops with 26 technology and design practitioners that supported their creation of a bespoke ethics-focused action plan. Using a qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis approach, we identified a range of roles and process moves that practitioners and design students with professional experience employed and illustrate the interplay of these elements that impacted the creation of their action plan and revealed aspects of their ethical design complexity. We conclude with implications for supporting ethics in socio-technical practice and opportunities for the further development of methods that support ethical engagement and are resonant with the realities of practice.