that technology is not neutral27 and continue to be shaped by the harms, inequities and biases in our own societies, whether or not it is intended in their development. Today, we are at a vital juncture and radical change is necessary. We must have this radical change and design by not only designing with but rather centering the most impacted communities. This is vitally important for privacy, safety, and security issues: when we build and design for those most harmed by security and privacy issues, it gives us a more vigorous understanding of the threats underlying the infrastructures of our technology, as well as the impacts on vulnerable and/or hard-to-reach communities.
Development and Design Iceberg For example, here, at the iceberg tip are the use cases considered during the product design phase. The cases would represent the ways a user is expected to interact with the product, and therefore defines the product features that are expected to be built. While accessibility is touched upon and thus slightly above the waterline, most “use cases” in this context are written using a “typical” user experience. This “typical” user experience is built on mainstream audiences i.e the privileged, often white user, often cis male - as opposed to ever being the decentralized edge cases. Since the Social, Legal and Political issues are not expected to apply to the “typical” user, these are not taken into consideration when designing the product.
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United Nations OHCHR. 2022. Emerging digital technologies entrench racial inequality, UN expert warns. [online] Available at: <https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26101> [Accessed 5 April 2022].
Design From the Margins
