This document discusses tips for conducting ethical user research and design. It summarizes past experiments that became unethical, like the Tuskegee Syphilis study. It also outlines regulations like the Common Rule that govern human subjects research. Key tips include getting IRB approval, obtaining informed consent, avoiding potentially embarrassing questions, and keeping participant data separate. The document stresses that user experiences should provide real value and not mislead users or prioritize engagement over ethics.

1. Do No Harm
Tips for avoiding the unethical turn of events in user research (and design)
Jen McGinn
Senior Manager, User Research
Oracle Middleware User Experience
December 11, 2014
The views expressed in this presentation are my own
and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle

2. What could possibly go wrong?
2

3. Tuskgee Syphilis experiments, 1932 – 1972
3URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

4. Milgram shock experiment, 1961
4URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

5. Stanford prison experiment, 1971
5URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

6. Legislature and policy
International Compilation of Human Research Protections
(by US Dept. of HHS, 2010)
• 1,100 laws, regulations, and guidelines governing human subjects
research in 96 countries
US Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects
(“Common Rule”, 1991)
• Outlines the basic provisions for IRBs, Informed Consent, and
Assurances of Compliance
6URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

7. IRB
•Performs independent ethical
review of proposed research
with human subjects
•Conducts risk-benefit analysis
7
An institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee
URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

8. Informed Consent
American Psychological Association (APA)
8URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

9. Informed Consent: Pop Quiz
Facebook study
9
Facebook researcher
gets permission to
conduct the “emotional
contagion” study
Data is collected from 689,003
Facebook users whose news
feeds have been specifically
altered to show more positive
posts or more negative posts to
see how they respond
January, 2012
Paper describing the study approved
for publication by an editor of the
journal Proceedings of the National
Academies of Sciences, Social Science,
based on the belief that the study was
approved by the Cornell IRB
March, 2014
June, 2014
Paper is published in the
Proceedings of the
National Academies of
Sciences, Social Science.
All heck breaks loose.
May, 2012???, 2011
Facebook updates their data use policy
to include that information they
receive about you may be used “for
internal operations, including
troubleshooting, data analysis, testing,
research and service improvement”
URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

10. Ethical User Research
Your colleague decides to flirt
with/ask out/sleep with a
participant.
You are interviewing people in
their homes. Your colleague
wants to ask questions that are
potentially embarrassing to them.
Your stakeholder wants to use
the videos from usability
sessions to evaluate job
performance of the participants.
Your participants volunteer
information that they are
acting in a way that is
counter to company policy.
10
Hypothetical situations for you to consider

11. Key take-aways for ethical user research
11
• Make the participant comfortable, but keep a professional distance.
• Don’t ask questions unless the answers are really necessary to answer design
questions.
• Keep participant details separate from participant data. Even internal
participants.
• Don’t expose details from research that may harm or identify the participants.
• Get (IRB) review and approval of research. In advance of user research.
• Ensure that you have the legal right to perform the research in the country and
with the age group you are targeting.
• Get informed consent. Inform users of the risks. Allow them to opt out. In
advance of user research.
What we’ve learned from experience

12. Ethical UX design
What value are you providing to your users?
12
Nir Eyal is the author of a great book on
designing engaging user experiences, hooked:
how to build habit-forming products
URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

13. Ethical UX design
Does the design provide real
value to the user? Would you
want to use it yourself?
How much would you
borrow from another design
to create yours?
Would you take on work
from a client whose business
you are morally opposed to?
How far would you stretch
the truth to sell your client’s
product?
13
Questions only you can answer
URLs to all source materials can be found in the Notes section for each slide

14. Key take-aways for ethical design
14
• Work for companies/clients whose business aligns with your ethical standards
• Consider how much you are borrowing from another design – is it ethical? Legal?
• Create user experiences that provide real value to the users
• Create user experiences that do no harm:
• Don’t mislead users
• Design for engagement, not addiction
I know you do all this already, but I need a summary slide

15. Do No Harm
Tips for avoiding the unethical turn of events in user research (and design)
Jen McGinn
Senior Manager, User Research
Oracle Middleware User Experience
December 11, 2014
The views expressed in this presentation are my own
and do not necessarily reflect the views of Oracle