Summary
Traditional design metrics and KPIs are often geared towards measuring product success. Dark metrics challenge this paradigm by proactively measuring the unintended yet harmful psychological, social, and physical effects of our technologies. The examples within digital health are plentiful. From accelerating burnout among clinicians to widening racial disparities in quality of care, we can only reach the height of our most courageous solutions when we expose our deepest failures.
Key Insights
-
•
Dark metrics focus on the negative impacts of digital health technologies.
-
•
Basic product metrics often ignore the user's holistic experience and needs.
-
•
Disempowerment occurs when technology impairs an individual's autonomy.
-
•
Exclusion can manifest through implicit biases in technology design.
-
•
Addiction in technology often leads to excessive use and unhealthy dependencies.
-
•
Distraction from digital technologies can hinder workflow and engagement in healthcare settings.
-
•
Designers should prioritize ethical frameworks to measure success.
-
•
Incorporating diverse perspectives helps identify unintended consequences early.
-
•
Ethical considerations in design should be part of the profit model in businesses.
-
•
Continuous evaluation and adjustment of metrics is crucial in tech design.
Notable Quotes
"A Pinterest is worth a thousand words."
"The measure of a man is what he does with power."
"Designing is about augmenting intelligence, not replacing it."
"The actual algorithm didn’t make explicit mention to race as a variable."
"I can tell that a lot of these new health technologies are not stress tested in real world environments."
"Our ultimate goal is to make sure that racial equity is embedded into every aspect of our design culture."
"Let’s have diverse co-creation from the beginning to reduce bias."
"Not every diverse population will have the same experiences; I don't have every black experience."
"The first step is to identify where and how we might be exclusionary."
"Raising awareness around dark metrics is essential for user advocacy."
More Videos
"Public institutions need to continually earn trust by effectively responding to people's needs."
Ed MullenDesigning the Unseen: Enabling Institutions to Build Public Trust
November 16, 2022
"Cell phones were going to directly compete with personal computers and Intel should both accommodate this new communications medium and also adjust its strategy."
Peter LevinSolve a Problem Here, Transform a Strategy There: Research as an Occasion for Expanding Organizational Possibility
March 25, 2024
"We have been meeting every month for a few years now."
Bria Alexander Benson Low Natalya Pemberton Stephanie GoldthorpeOKRs—Helpful or Harmful?
January 20, 2022
"One of the coolest things an operations team can have is building the tools that we need to enable growth at scale"
Kate Koch Prateek KalliFlex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
September 30, 2021
"Building trust creates a lot of affinity between teams."
Amy MarquezINVEST: Discussion
June 15, 2018
"What you build matters, but what matters more is if you learn."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"Thanks for taking the time to come along today."
Brian MossWhat Does it Mean to be a Resilient Research Team?
March 9, 2022
"If you can't determine where you started, you can't measure how far you've come."
Adel Du ToitGet Your CFO To Say: 'Our Strategic Goal is User Obsession'
June 10, 2022
"We love to flex our superpowers, but we’re trying to use them for good and not evil."
Kate Koch Jean-Claire FitschenFlex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
September 29, 2021
