Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-669899f699-cf6xr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-04T04:21:35.428Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 9 - Ethics in Digital Behavior Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  aN Invalid Date NaN

Umberto Leon Dominguez
Affiliation:
University of Monterrey
Get access

Summary

Discussing ethics within the highly competitive technology sector can be complex. Although companies outwardly express their commitment to ethical practices, internally, the topic is often regarded as uncomfortable due to its implications for corporate finances. In digital behavior design, ethical consideration begins with defining the various drives and reinforcers that will guide the design process. As a sub-field of Human Factors and Engineering Psychology, digital behavior design can draw from their established Codes of Ethics and Codes of Conduct. However, beyond incorporating the ethical principles that govern Human Factors and psychology, it is also imperative to acknowledge unique ethical principles that highlight the particularities of their application. In seeking these specific ethical norms, it is important to identify the essential desirable value inherent in the professional practice of digital behavior designers. Primarily, the genuine value provided by digital behavior design is utilitarian in nature; that is, it fulfills user needs through satisfaction. From this continuous satisfaction may arise a dependency on these digital services for happiness, leading to problematic online behaviors. Therefore, poor design or the unethical use of discriminative stimuli (nudges) and reinforcers can be highly hazardous for populations with certain psychosocial and neural vulnerabilities. This chapter introduces certain standards to guide ethical and responsible conduct for designers when creating digital services. It also proposes a solution in the form of an algorithm that could be implemented in digital services to detect and support compulsive behaviors.

Type
Chapter
Information
Digital Behavior
Evidence-Based Digital Design
, pp. 180 - 193
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Book purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×