CategoryEthics

October 12, 2023 — Working in the area of UX sometimes feels like a crime drama. Can’t believe it? Then look at these fun parallels between modern UX practices and a classical TV detective. Read more…

December 15, 2022 — Concerns over online privacy and security are nothing new. In this article, Suzanne Scacca explores how the right CSV importer can help businesses better prioritize user security. Read more…

December 13, 2022 — All of us want to create inclusive, safe, and privacy-aware digital experiences, but where to begin? Our brand new Smashing Book, “Understanding Privacy,” written by Heather Burns, can help you lay the ground for future developers, designers, and project managers to build a better web for tomorrow. Jump to the details or get the book right away. Read more…

September 20, 2021 — Content scraping is a fact of life on the Internet. When you think of web scraping, you probably do not think about the scrapers turning around and immediately serving your entire, whole page content on another website. But what if your site content is being re-published? It might be already happening. Read more…

August 26, 2021 — The Web is still wrestling with issues we take for granted offline, privacy chief among them. These are steps The New York Times took to protect users’ data, and how you can too. Read more…

August 19, 2021 — Through a simple step-by-step approach, you can build an ethical practice within your organization that will ensure you’re respecting the dignity and welfare of your research participants. Read more…

December 16, 2020 — Today, Suzanne Scacca is going to look at “The Website Dilemma”. In other words, is it possible to build an authoritative, lead generating, high converting website without manipulating visitors into doing what you want? If you follow social media’s lead, they’re one and the same. If you’d prefer not to trade your customers’ well-being for profit, keep reading. Read more…

December 9, 2020 — Research is an essential part of creating good UX. We are often in roles where we interact with our users in order to collect data to inform our UX. We need to ensure our UX research is compliant with ethical standards of research conducted with humans. To do this, we need to have an awareness of potential ethical issues in research, training on how to conduct ethical research, and a systematic review of our research protocols to avoid potential ethical pitfalls.

In this article, Victor Yocco discusses some areas of ethical consideration for UX practitioners when conducting UX research, and explores potential solutions to preventing research from venturing into unethical territory. Read more…

May 13, 2020 — Arguing that dark patterns are unethical is not enough on its own. We will also need to make the case to clients and colleagues that they are damaging to business. That’s what Paul Boag has also written in his new Smashing book, “Click”. In this post, he will put together a compelling argument you can present to stakeholders to help them understand why dark patterns are a bad idea. However, before we do that, let’s agree on a definition of dark patterns. Read more…

April 7, 2020 — In this episode of the Smashing Podcast we’re talking about online privacy. What should web developers be doing to make sure the privacy of our users is maintained? Drew McLellan talks to an expert on the subject, Laura Kalbag, to find out. Read more…