Main conference presentation

The impact of social ethics on IA and interactive design - experiences from the Norwegian woods

Karl Yohan Saeth, Ingrid Tofte

Saturday April 12 2008, 4:30 - 5:15PM

This presentation discusses ethics in IA from a practical point of view. Through different case studies we illustrate the impact of social ethics on IA and interactive design, and sum up our experiences on dealing with ethics in real projects.

E-Commerce for the Norwegian Alcohol Retail Monopoly
In this project we had to interpret the Norwegian alcohol legislation (which is very restrictive) as well as Norwegian ethics of drinking. The solution is balancing the tightrope between legislation, social ethics and technical and conceptual possibilities.

E-commerce with Products Targeted Towards Children
In this project we have interpreted the Norwegian ethic codes regarding marketing towards children. Marketing towards children is prohibited in some marketing channels, but there are no specific regulations within interactive media.

Solution for Buying CO2 Quotas from The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority
In this project we have considered the social ethics of environmental issues and of buying and selling CO2-quotas on the Internet.

In our opinion these cases show that interactive design in one way or another always is based on interpretation of ethical rules, expressed or latent. IA and design is bound by cultural imperatives, and this is a fact we cannot ignore.

The presentation should be useful for IAs and designers working with real life solutions.