Thinking about ethics in design

On 23 September 2022, as part of France Design Week, the Nice-based collective La Tricyclette organised “Que Fa?”, a day of meetings devoted to ethics in design. Alongside the Co collective and Camille Lizop, we were invited to design a session for design students.

Our talk dealt with the “ethical” implications of design and the way design choices shape how we live, think and work. Rather than dwelling on notions such as “committed”, “responsible” or “ethical”, whose repeated use tends to weaken their meaning, we suggested questioning technical choices and the worldviews they imply.

We then helped the students think about their professional aspirations, their positions and their plans to start out in design. The discussion focused in particular on the discourses that lend design an almost natural moral virtue, at the risk of depoliticising the choices of those who practise it.

A group workshop invited the students to question the notion of commitment. What does “being committed” mean, for whom and for what? On which worldview should a design practice be based?