Log in or create a free Rosenverse account to watch this video.
Log in Create free account100s of community videos are available to free members. Conference talks are generally available to Gold members.
Exit Interview #2: Rediscovering the ethical heart of design
This video is featured in the My first playlist playlist and 1 more.
Summary
Key Insights
-
•
Kenneth transitioned from senior UX design roles into technology ethics and philosophy due to ethical disillusionment and industry collapse.
-
•
Philosophy demands a shift from empirical, data-driven thinking to rigorous, logical reasoning devoid of experimental data.
-
•
There is a growing awareness of the moral impact of technology, but a retreat from ethical responsibility is currently observable in the tech industry.
-
•
Designers inevitably engage in ethics through decisions affecting others, whether consciously or not.
-
•
The ethics of deception in design is complex; some deception like placebo buttons is socially acceptable, but dark patterns are morally problematic.
-
•
AI as a designer raises novel ethical questions since AI lacks intention and cannot understand deception in human terms.
-
•
Support for transitioning from industry design work to academic philosophy is limited and often requires personal resilience and external financial backing.
-
•
Academia is a difficult career path with limited job security and funding, especially in humanities and philosophy, making it a commitment driven by intrinsic motivation.
-
•
Kenneth views his role as translating complex ethical philosophy into approachable guidance for tech practitioners.
-
•
Despite leaving design practice, Kenneth retains affection for the discipline but is critical of the industry's current direction and values.
Notable Quotes
"Ethics tends to emerge at the level of mastery of a community."
"I'm basically a philosopher because 50% of people don't know what an ethicist is."
"Design permeates everything as a lens through which you see the world; philosophy is just a different shaped lens."
"You can't just measure ethics like a scientific question; you have to reason differently."
"Philosophy is hardass; it's rigid, robust, and demanding, not fluffy or subjective."
"Designers use deception all the time, but the moral dividing line between acceptable and harmful deception is fuzzy."
"There is no value in outsourcing the thinking of philosophy to AI; doing the thinking yourself is the point."
"The tech industry is retreating from responsibility and ethics despite increasing awareness of moral impact."
"Support structures for switching from design to academia are sparse; you mostly have to figure it out yourself."
"I love the things—technology, design—but I really dislike the industry."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Random assignment to treatment or control is essential—if it’s not random, it’s not a true experiment."
Joshua NobleCasual Inference
October 6, 2023
"A lot of things we said yes to didn’t necessarily have value to the member or the company — we had to challenge that."
Carla Casariego Sarah SpencerDesignOps in Wonderland
October 24, 2019
"Users don’t just trust the advisor’s opinion; they vet it through their community networks."
Daniel GloydDesigning Warmth
February 26, 2025
"Non-researchers found traction when conversations were hyper relevant to what they were working on."
Trisha TerharEmpathizing with the Empowered: Non-Researcher Responses to Democratization
March 10, 2022
"You don’t want to game anybody here. This is persuasion by evidence, not by trickery."
Daniel J. RosenbergDesigning with and for Artificial Intelligence
August 11, 2022
"Democratization is about letting go of some research and enabling teams to learn from customers directly."
Jen Cardello Jennifer OttoLearning Velocity—The Insights Speedometer
September 16, 2021
"It’s about us, the design ops practitioners, and what we need today to be better at our jobs."
Bria AlexanderTheme Two Intro
October 3, 2023
"Advanced logic, matrix questioning, AI survey design creation — these are baseline capabilities you should expect from any modern survey tool."
Aleksandra Korczynska Caroline Jarrett Justyna ParmeeSurvey Tools
March 12, 2026
"Effort doesn’t mean progress, hard work doesn’t guarantee a harvest."
Johnny MichaelsenMeasure Behaviors, Not Results
April 23, 2026
