Abstract
Knowledge of professional design is (re)produced through discourse and its culture of use: from the language used, interactions with others and objects created, to the techniques and procedures that connect and distribute professional design knowledge. Here, discourse both shapes and is shaped by social practices and communicated through structures such as codes of conduct and codes of ethics. This paper explores the discourse of codes of conduct and codes of ethics for professional design developed by peak design organisations. We argue that such codes serve as forms of industry self-regulation encapsulating designers’ responsibilities and the ethics of their practices. However, codes of conduct and codes of ethics are conflated and reduce ethics and the responsibility of design(ers) to instruments and procedures which, though well-intended, without governance, are flawed. The paper proposes recommendations for revising these codes to better nurture ethical awareness and accountability in professional design practices.
Keywords
design practice; design ethics; conduct; discourse
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.416
Citation
Kelly, V., and Kelly, M. (2024) With great power comes great responsibility: The discourse of conduct and ethics in professional design, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.416
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Research Paper
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With great power comes great responsibility: The discourse of conduct and ethics in professional design
Knowledge of professional design is (re)produced through discourse and its culture of use: from the language used, interactions with others and objects created, to the techniques and procedures that connect and distribute professional design knowledge. Here, discourse both shapes and is shaped by social practices and communicated through structures such as codes of conduct and codes of ethics. This paper explores the discourse of codes of conduct and codes of ethics for professional design developed by peak design organisations. We argue that such codes serve as forms of industry self-regulation encapsulating designers’ responsibilities and the ethics of their practices. However, codes of conduct and codes of ethics are conflated and reduce ethics and the responsibility of design(ers) to instruments and procedures which, though well-intended, without governance, are flawed. The paper proposes recommendations for revising these codes to better nurture ethical awareness and accountability in professional design practices.