Antiracist economist Kim Crayton says that “intention with out technique is chaos.” We’ve mentioned how our biases, assumptions, and inattention towards marginalized and weak teams result in harmful and unethical tech—however what, particularly, do we have to do to repair it? The intention to make our tech safer will not be sufficient; we want a technique.
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This chapter will equip you with that plan of motion. It covers methods to combine security ideas into your design work with the intention to create tech that’s protected, methods to persuade your stakeholders that this work is critical, and the way to reply to the critique that what we really want is extra range. (Spoiler: we do, however range alone will not be the antidote to fixing unethical, unsafe tech.)
The method for inclusive security#section2
When you find yourself designing for security, your targets are to:
- determine methods your product can be utilized for abuse,
- design methods to stop the abuse, and
- present help for weak customers to reclaim energy and management.
The Course of for Inclusive Security is a device that can assist you attain these targets (Fig 5.1). It’s a technique I created in 2018 to seize the varied strategies I used to be utilizing when designing merchandise with security in thoughts. Whether or not you might be creating a wholly new product or including to an present function, the Course of can assist you make your product protected and inclusive. The Course of consists of 5 normal areas of motion:
- Conducting analysis
- Creating archetypes
- Brainstorming issues
- Designing options
- Testing for security

The Course of is supposed to be versatile—it received’t make sense for groups to implement each step in some conditions. Use the elements which might be related to your distinctive work and context; that is meant to be one thing you possibly can insert into your present design follow.
And as soon as you employ it, in case you have an concept for making it higher or just need to present context of the way it helped your group, please get in contact with me. It’s a residing doc that I hope will proceed to be a helpful and lifelike device that technologists can use of their day-to-day work.
In the event you’re engaged on a product particularly for a weak group or survivors of some type of trauma, resembling an app for survivors of home violence, sexual assault, or drug dependancy, make sure you learn Chapter 7, which covers that state of affairs explicitly and must be dealt with a bit otherwise. The rules listed below are for prioritizing security when designing a extra normal product that can have a large consumer base (which, we already know from statistics, will embody sure teams that must be shielded from hurt). Chapter 7 is targeted on merchandise which might be particularly for weak teams and individuals who have skilled trauma.
Step 1: Conduct analysis#section3
Design analysis ought to embody a broad evaluation of how your tech may be weaponized for abuse in addition to particular insights into the experiences of survivors and perpetrators of that sort of abuse. At this stage, you and your group will examine problems with interpersonal hurt and abuse, and discover another security, safety, or inclusivity points that may be a priority in your services or products, like knowledge safety, racist algorithms, and harassment.
Broad analysis#section4
Your challenge ought to start with broad, normal analysis into related merchandise and points round security and moral issues which have already been reported. For instance, a group constructing a wise dwelling system would do nicely to grasp the multitude of ways in which present sensible dwelling gadgets have been used as instruments of abuse. In case your product will contain AI, search to grasp the potentials for racism and different points which were reported in present AI merchandise. Practically all kinds of know-how have some sort of potential or precise hurt that’s been reported on within the information or written about by teachers. Google Scholar is a great tool for locating these research.
Particular analysis: Survivors#section5
When doable and applicable, embody direct analysis (surveys and interviews) with people who find themselves consultants within the types of hurt you’ve uncovered. Ideally, you’ll need to interview advocates working within the house of your analysis first so that you’ve got a extra stable understanding of the subject and are higher outfitted to not retraumatize survivors. In the event you’ve uncovered doable home violence points, for instance, the consultants you’ll need to communicate with are survivors themselves, in addition to employees at home violence hotlines, shelters, different associated nonprofits, and attorneys.
Particularly when interviewing survivors of any sort of trauma, you will need to pay individuals for his or her information and lived experiences. Don’t ask survivors to share their trauma at no cost, as that is exploitative. Whereas some survivors might not need to be paid, it’s best to all the time make the provide within the preliminary ask. A substitute for fee is to donate to a company working towards the kind of violence that the interviewee skilled. We’ll discuss extra about methods to appropriately interview survivors in Chapter 6.
Particular analysis: Abusers#section6
It’s unlikely that groups aiming to design for security will be capable of interview self-proclaimed abusers or individuals who have damaged legal guidelines round issues like hacking. Don’t make this a aim; relatively, attempt to get at this angle in your normal analysis. Goal to grasp how abusers or dangerous actors weaponize know-how to make use of towards others, how they cowl their tracks, and the way they clarify or rationalize the abuse.
Step 2: Create archetypes#section7
When you’ve completed conducting your analysis, use your insights to create abuser and survivor archetypes. Archetypes are usually not personas, as they’re not primarily based on actual individuals that you simply interviewed and surveyed. As an alternative, they’re primarily based in your analysis into doubtless questions of safety, very like after we design for accessibility: we don’t must have discovered a gaggle of blind or low-vision customers in our interview pool to create a design that’s inclusive of them. As an alternative, we base these designs on present analysis into what this group wants. Personas usually characterize actual customers and embody many particulars, whereas archetypes are broader and could be extra generalized.
The abuser archetype is somebody who will have a look at the product as a device to carry out hurt (Fig 5.2). They might be attempting to hurt somebody they don’t know by surveillance or nameless harassment, or they might be attempting to regulate, monitor, abuse, or torment somebody they know personally.

The survivor archetype is somebody who’s being abused with the product. There are numerous conditions to think about when it comes to the archetype’s understanding of the abuse and methods to put an finish to it: Do they want proof of abuse they already suspect is going on, or are they unaware they’ve been focused within the first place and should be alerted (Fig 5.3)?

You could need to make a number of survivor archetypes to seize a spread of various experiences. They might know that the abuse is going on however not be capable of cease it, like when an abuser locks them out of IoT gadgets; or they understand it’s occurring however don’t know the way, resembling when a stalker retains determining their location (Fig 5.4). Embrace as many of those situations as you have to in your survivor archetype. You’ll use these in a while whenever you design options to assist your survivor archetypes obtain their targets of stopping and ending abuse.

It might be helpful so that you can create persona-like artifacts in your archetypes, such because the three examples proven. As an alternative of specializing in the demographic data we regularly see in personas, deal with their targets. The targets of the abuser might be to hold out the precise abuse you’ve recognized, whereas the targets of the survivor might be to stop abuse, perceive that abuse is going on, make ongoing abuse cease, or regain management over the know-how that’s getting used for abuse. Later, you’ll brainstorm methods to stop the abuser’s targets and help the survivor’s targets.
And whereas the “abuser/survivor” mannequin suits most instances, it doesn’t match all, so modify it as you have to. For instance, should you uncovered a problem with safety, resembling the flexibility for somebody to hack into a house digital camera system and discuss to youngsters, the malicious hacker would get the abuser archetype and the kid’s mother and father would get survivor archetype.
Step 3: Brainstorm issues#section8
After creating archetypes, brainstorm novel abuse instances and questions of safety. “Novel” means issues not present in your analysis; you’re attempting to determine utterly new questions of safety which might be distinctive to your services or products. The aim with this step is to exhaust each effort of figuring out harms your product might trigger. You aren’t worrying about methods to stop the hurt but—that comes within the subsequent step.
How might your product be used for any sort of abuse, exterior of what you’ve already recognized in your analysis? I like to recommend setting apart a minimum of just a few hours along with your group for this course of.
In the event you’re on the lookout for someplace to start out, attempt doing a Black Mirror brainstorm. This train relies on the present Black Mirror, which options tales concerning the darkish potentialities of know-how. Strive to determine how your product could be utilized in an episode of the present—essentially the most wild, terrible, out-of-control methods it may very well be used for hurt. Once I’ve led Black Mirror brainstorms, individuals often find yourself having a great deal of enjoyable (which I feel is nice—it’s okay to have enjoyable when designing for security!). I like to recommend time-boxing a Black Mirror brainstorm to half an hour, after which dialing it again and utilizing the remainder of the time considering of extra lifelike types of hurt.
After you’ve recognized as many alternatives for abuse as doable, you should still not really feel assured that you simply’ve uncovered each potential type of hurt. A wholesome quantity of hysteria is regular whenever you’re doing this type of work. It’s widespread for groups designing for security to fret, “Have we actually recognized each doable hurt? What if we’ve missed one thing?” In the event you’ve spent a minimum of 4 hours developing with methods your product may very well be used for hurt and have run out of concepts, go to the subsequent step.
It’s inconceivable to ensure you’ve considered all the things; as a substitute of aiming for 100% assurance, acknowledge that you simply’ve taken this time and have performed the very best you possibly can, and decide to persevering with to prioritize security sooner or later. As soon as your product is launched, your customers might determine new points that you simply missed; goal to obtain that suggestions graciously and course-correct rapidly.
Step 4: Design options#section9
At this level, it’s best to have a listing of the way your product can be utilized for hurt in addition to survivor and abuser archetypes describing opposing consumer targets. The following step is to determine methods to design towards the recognized abuser’s targets and to help the survivor’s targets. This step is an effective one to insert alongside present elements of your design course of the place you’re proposing options for the varied issues your analysis uncovered.
Some inquiries to ask your self to assist stop hurt and help your archetypes embody:
- Are you able to design your product in such a manner that the recognized hurt can’t occur within the first place? If not, what roadblocks can you place as much as stop the hurt from occurring?
- How will you make the sufferer conscious that abuse is going on by your product?
- How will you assist the sufferer perceive what they should do to make the issue cease?
- Are you able to determine any kinds of consumer exercise that will point out some type of hurt or abuse? May your product assist the consumer entry help?
In some merchandise, it’s doable to proactively acknowledge that hurt is going on. For instance, a being pregnant app may be modified to permit the consumer to report that they had been the sufferer of an assault, which might set off a suggestion to obtain assets for native and nationwide organizations. This form of proactiveness will not be all the time doable, however it’s value taking a half hour to debate if any sort of consumer exercise would point out some type of hurt or abuse, and the way your product might help the consumer in receiving assist in a protected method.
That stated, use warning: you don’t need to do something that might put a consumer in hurt’s manner if their gadgets are being monitored. In the event you do provide some sort of proactive assist, all the time make it voluntary, and suppose by different questions of safety, resembling the necessity to hold the consumer in-app in case an abuser is checking their search historical past. We’ll stroll by an excellent instance of this within the subsequent chapter.
Step 5: Take a look at for security#section10
The ultimate step is to check your prototypes from the standpoint of your archetypes: the one that needs to weaponize the product for hurt and the sufferer of the hurt who must regain management over the know-how. Identical to another sort of product testing, at this level you’ll goal to carefully take a look at out your security options so as to determine gaps and proper them, validate that your designs will assist hold your customers protected, and really feel extra assured releasing your product into the world.
Ideally, security testing occurs together with usability testing. In the event you’re at an organization that doesn’t do usability testing, you may be capable of use security testing to cleverly carry out each; a consumer who goes by your design trying to weaponize the product towards another person can be inspired to level out interactions or different parts of the design that don’t make sense to them.
You’ll need to conduct security testing on both your ultimate prototype or the precise product if it’s already been launched. There’s nothing fallacious with testing an present product that wasn’t designed with security targets in thoughts from the onset—“retrofitting” it for security is an effective factor to do.
Keep in mind that testing for security includes testing from the angle of each an abuser and a survivor, although it might not make sense so that you can do each. Alternatively, should you made a number of survivor archetypes to seize a number of situations, you’ll need to take a look at from the angle of every one.
As with different types of usability testing, you because the designer are most definitely too near the product and its design by this level to be a beneficial tester; you already know the product too nicely. As an alternative of doing it your self, arrange testing as you’d with different usability testing: discover somebody who will not be accustomed to the product and its design, set the scene, give them a activity, encourage them to suppose out loud, and observe how they try to finish it.
Abuser testing#section11
The aim of this testing is to grasp how simple it’s for somebody to weaponize your product for hurt. Not like with usability testing, you need to make it inconceivable, or a minimum of tough, for them to realize their aim. Reference the targets within the abuser archetype you created earlier, and use your product in an try to realize them.
For instance, for a health app with GPS-enabled location options, we are able to think about that the abuser archetype would have the aim of determining the place his ex-girlfriend now lives. With this aim in thoughts, you’d attempt all the things doable to determine the situation of one other consumer who has their privateness settings enabled. You may attempt to see her operating routes, view any out there data on her profile, view something out there about her location (which she has set to personal), and examine the profiles of another customers someway linked along with her account, resembling her followers.
If by the top of this you’ve managed to uncover a few of her location knowledge, regardless of her having set her profile to personal, you already know now that your product allows stalking. The next step is to return to step 4 and determine methods to stop this from occurring. You could must repeat the method of designing options and testing them greater than as soon as.
Survivor testing#section12
Survivor testing includes figuring out methods to give data and energy to the survivor. It may not all the time make sense primarily based on the product or context. Thwarting the try of an abuser archetype to stalk somebody additionally satisfies the aim of the survivor archetype to not be stalked, so separate testing wouldn’t be wanted from the survivor’s perspective.
Nonetheless, there are instances the place it is smart. For instance, for a wise thermostat, a survivor archetype’s targets could be to grasp who or what’s making the temperature change after they aren’t doing it themselves. You may take a look at this by on the lookout for the thermostat’s historical past log and checking for usernames, actions, and occasions; should you couldn’t discover that data, you’d have extra work to do in step 4.
One other aim may be regaining management of the thermostat as soon as the survivor realizes the abuser is remotely altering its settings. Your take a look at would contain trying to determine how to do that: are there directions that specify methods to take away one other consumer and alter the password, and are they simple to search out? This may once more reveal that extra work is required to make it clear to the consumer how they will regain management of the system or account.
Stress testing#section13
To make your product extra inclusive and compassionate, take into account including stress testing. This idea comes from Design for Actual Life by Eric Meyer and Sara Wachter-Boettcher. The authors identified that personas usually middle people who find themselves having an excellent day—however actual customers are sometimes anxious, stressed, having a nasty day, and even experiencing tragedy. These are known as “stress instances,” and testing your merchandise for customers in stress-case conditions can assist you determine locations the place your design lacks compassion. Design for Actual Life has extra particulars about what it seems to be like to include stress instances into your design in addition to many different nice ways for compassionate design.