Dear David,
Thanks for this useful post. The concept of a Hippocratic Oath for design -- "the scientists’ approach to ethics may not suite design. Perhaps the doctors’ ethic of 'do no harm’ is a better starting point for designers." -- is interesting. All professional practice is a form of service. Service requires an understanding of ethics. While all professions presumably have an ethical foundation, not all professions state this foundation clearly. Physicians, nurses, lawyers, military officers, elected leaders in government all take an oath. Designers do not.
While it is clear that many people in those fields neglect the oath, they do think these issues through. The issues are part of an education, and they set the frame for professional practice. In essence, the New York Times article was not so much talking about research comparable to basic research, but different kinds of research comparable to clinical research as a physician tries various treatments to see what works best.
One sentence in you post offers a key for better clinical research in design practice: "Few designers collect pre and post data on unintended effects or consequences."
Medical practice has medical research in the background. Physicians keep patient records of diagnosis (clinical research), planned treatment, goals, and actual outcomes. This also allows physicians to move from clinical research to basic research, building the link between background knowledge and foreground practice.
In this way, new ideas for better medical practice move from the clinic to scientific testing, publication, and then back to the clinic for the benefit of the larger human community.
Thank you.
Ken
On Fri, 3 Jul 2015 10:04:13 +1000, David Sless <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Hi All
>
>Just to add some footnotes to the excellent contributions on this thread.
>
>I agree with Gunnar that the scientists’ approach to ethics may not suite design. Perhaps the doctors’ ethic of 'do no harm’ is a better starting point for designers.
>
>Informed consent forms are sometimes badly designed and make little sense to the people who sign them.
>
>Few designers collect pre and post data on unintended effects or consequences.
>
>We still have a long way to go.
>David
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>Professor David Sless BA MSc FRSA
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