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Show HN: I wrote a book about Design Ethics called Tragic Design
Hey everyone!
After two long years of writing along side my co-author, we have finally released the book: Tragic Design.
It's about the true impact of bad design and how to fix it. We felt there was a need to shed light on the discussion of Design Ethics by exploring the ways bad design can harm people and offering up solutions. When most of us think about bad design, we think the worst case is lost customers. This book explores the very real impact it has: physical harm, emotional harm, and more.
We are excited to have John Maeda writing the Foreword to the book, who has been a long supporter of inclusive design.
The book is out right now and I made this website for it: http://www.tragicdesign.com/ http://www.tragicdesign.com/
Were excited to finally have this out in the hands of designers, engineers, and others making products, and start making an impact on this important issue.
Thanks HN
- Jonathan
- Jtsummers 9y agoI started reading this on Safari Books Online (I'm bad about reading too many books at once). I got 3 chapters in before switching gears. What I read was excellent, and I recommended the book to several friends. Thanks for the book.
- jonshariat 9y agoThank you so much, glad to hear it!
- Jtsummers 9y agoI actually saw a comment (by you?) on the book a month or two ago, right before going to a (beta) one week course on software safety. I suggested it as a good source of material for case studies and discussions. This reminds me that I should contact the instructors and see what they've done with the feedback we gave them.
- jonshariat 9y agoWow, awesome to hear. That makes me so happy that we are helping in that way. Thank you for sharing.
- mejarc 9y agoWould like to hear more about any software safety course, beta or not.
- Jtsummers 9y agoSummary: Beta course to cover software systems safety from the perspective of DoD, attendees were contractors and civilians. Specifically covering MIL-STD 882E and related documents. Generally covering topics in software engineering and design that relate to safety. It was a beta, and rough. The instructors were trying to be all things to all people. It hit too low level at times for the program office types who don't do any actual programming but need to know about design and safety considerations and processes. That was also (somewhat) redundant for the programmers in the group. It was, however, informative as we discussed topics related to this book (why I brought it up in class), and software engineering principles (from safety and reliability perspectives) that the new programmers and non-programmers weren't aware of. The intention is to teach this material rather than rely on people absorbing it (poorly) on the job, which is how it's typically done now for software. Processes exist, but people don't understand them. Techniques get used, but people forget why. This is intended to raise the bar across the board (or provide an opportunity to) so that safety and is more thoroughly integrated into the design and development process. I'm not sure what else to add. If you want to discuss more, I may respond here, but you can also email me (username at gmail).
- castis 9y agoCongratulations on shipping your book! This is slightly off topic but something I've always wondered. Who picks the organism featured on the cover?
- jonshariat 9y agoIts random really. Whatever the illustrator is interested in haha. We got another animal initially and it was um... kinda ridiculous. So considering the serious topic of the book I campaigned for the man-of-war as the animal. Aside from being a beautiful creature, as a nerd I find it REALLY interesting. Wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o%27_war https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_man_o%27_war Specifically this tidbit: >the Portuguese man o' war is not a jellyfish but a siphonophore, which, unlike jellyfish, is not actually a single multicellular organism, but a colonial organism made up of specialized individual animals called zooids or polyps. My post explaining why I chose it (plus link to awesome photos from NG) - http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=b2a9f2c796e250794d7fae7de&id=f4d1f975a6 http://us10.campaign-archive1.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=b2a9f2c796e2...
- bovermyer 9y agoThe man-o-war is one of the most terrifying creatures on the planet, IMO.
- programbreeding 9y agoI've been up for a couple days working on a big project and my brain is having trouble saying what I want to say. Hopefully this makes sense. My only comment is with your primary quote featured right on the landing page of your site. As far as marketing goes, it feels sketchy because your book title isn't part of the direct quote. "This revolution is just beginning, and it's exciting to have [Tragic Design] to ground the growing movement of achieving truly inclusive design in the digital era." My guess is that John said something like "this book," or maybe you changed the book title and he called it something else. But having your primary marketing item be a quote that isn't a direct quote just feels wrong to me. It seems like he could have said something not even related to your book, and you changed it to make it work. Obviously I know you didn't, I just wanted to give you my opinion. I would suggest contacting him and seeing if he can give you a direct quote that doesn't require you to use brackets. Either way, congratulations on the book!
- jonshariat 9y agoIt was "Shariat and Savard Saucier's book..." and the quote was taken from the foreword. Thank you for the feedback. I'm going to talk to a few more folks to see if anyone else feels that way. I definitely don't want people feeling that way. Thanks again!
- aetherson 9y agoCan't you just ask the permission of the person who said that, and, if they agree, drop the []'s? If it makes anyone feel better, they could speak the revised quote out loud to an empty room before you drop the []'s.
- jonshariat 9y agoGood idea!
- jonshariat 9y agoThanks for the recommendation. I did just that and he agreed. I'm gunna push the fix on the website now.
- keithpeter 9y agoOrdered paper copy (I'm old and find actual books easier than screen reading). UK: Amazon showing £30 ish as price, other sellers showing £16 as price. What are your distribution deals like outside US?
- jonshariat 9y agoDitto that or audio book. I don't know the specifics. I'll read out to my editor and let you know.
- keithpeter 9y agoJust want to make sure you are (both) getting your cut :-) A factor of two on retail price seems a bit odd.
- biot 9y agoI see from the few page previews that this book discusses, for example, the medical interface that killed the cancer patient. Does the book do critiques of various existing designs and then show the corrected designs that result from the application of fundamental design principles?
- jonshariat 9y agoWe review the different ways bad design can harm with real life case studies as examples. We talk about basic design principles that would have mitigated that particular issue as well as broad solutions on how to design ethically. The goal of the book was to give readers a broader understanding about how our decisions in how we choose to make our products, have very real impacts in people's lives. Then allow the reader to decide for themselves what their ethical redlines are.
- sp332 9y agoHey, when did links start working in text posts on HN?
- amitmerchant 9y agoAlthough, they should change the color of hyper-link atleast.
- MrDresden 9y agoDoing a long flight soon and this sounds like it would be perfect for it. Also, love the choice of a man-o-war. From reading the website's bullet points I am reminded of the excellent talk by Mike Monteiro titled "How Designers Destroyed the World", which I would highly recommend for a discussion on the same subject.
- jonshariat 9y agoYes his talk was a big inspiration. We actually have an interview with his partner at Mule Design, Erika Hall.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- simpkevin 9y agoCongrats on the book! I will have to check it out! I went to the website and the header is a purple, and the purchase link is blue (so it is blue on purple). This doesn't have enough contrast ratio for accessibility reasons and is really hard to read. Since this is your purchase button, thought you would like to know. Good luck with the book!
- jonshariat 9y agohmm must be a bug in my css. I'll look into it thanks!
- uxcolumbo 9y agoCongrats on shipping John. Can't wait to receive my copy. Maybe in a future podcast of yours, you and Cynthia can talk about how you approached researching for this book and the challenges you had over the 2 years writing it.
- jonshariat 9y agoGreat idea! PS I love your username. Makes me think of a designer who always has "one more thing..." to add. haha
- uxcolumbo 9y agoHa, well spotted. I think Columbo would have made a great designer - I consider him a virtual mentor. He gets to the bottom of things, he gets people and their motivations and he's a humble and likeable guy. Going to look out for your future podcast about your book. PS just noticed I got your name wrong, but couldn't edit my post anymore... soz
- jonshariat 9y agoThats a good modal to shoot for haha.
- jonshariat 9y agoThats a good modal to shoot for haha.
- StevenForth 9y agoI am really looking forward to reading this. Please start a discussion thread on this on the LinkedIn Design Thinking group as well. Really important work.