1. 3.007 Design Ethics
Prepared by: Katja Holtta-Otto, Erik Wilhelm, Ricardo Sosa
November 2012

2. “ D ESIGN IS fundamentally a human endeavor. It involves the interactions
among members of a design team, the relationships between designers, clients,
and manufacturers, and the ways that purchasers of designed devices use them
in their lives. […] Since design touches so many facets of people’s daily lives,
we must consider how people interact with each other and how they are acted
upon by the designs we create. To design means to accept responsibility for
creating designs for people. That is, design is not done in a vacuum; design is a
social activity. Designers are influenced by the social milieu in which they
work, and society is influenced by the products of design. Therefore, ethics and
ethical behavior must be considered in our examination of how designs are
created and used.”
From: Clive Dym & Patric Little, Engineering Design, Chapter 12

3. 3.007 Design Ethics
Aims - To raise awareness of ethical issues
- To identify ethical dilemmas and risks
- To share strategies for decision making

4. Definition
ēthos, - A set of principles of right conduct
character - The moral quality of a course of action

6. Two boats are filled with explosives: one a prisoner vessel, the other
transporting wealthy citizens, they had each other’s detonators. If they
don’t push the button before midnight, the Joker will detonate both
boats. What is the right decision?

7. Would You Kill One Person to Save Five?
~10%
~90%
If Flanders were Bart, he would
save Homer ~66% of the time.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/12/05/would-you-kill-one-person-to-save-five-new-research-on-a-classic-debate/#ixzz2CS35zgRy
http://gameofroles.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/1.png

8. “Two and a half years after the massive gulf
oil spill, BP has agreed to plead guilty to 14
criminal charges and cough up $4.5 billion in
fines and other payments”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/16/opinion/criminality-in-the-gulf-spill.html

9. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304887904576395580035481822.html#project%3DP1_BB40020110630_pg

10. "Several years ago there was a design miss," Patrick Foye, executive director of the
Port Authority… the cost of One World Trade Center has soared to $3.8 billion, $700
million more than the last publicly released estimate in 2008.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10070023
http://m.upall.co/g/1/new-world-trade-center-construction-progress-1.jpg

11. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/4307736

12. http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/4307736

13. “With an initial cost estimate of around $2.6 billion, the Boston
Globe estimates the final cost of the Big Dig at $22 billion”
http://listosaur.com/science-a-technology/5-structures-famous-for-their-engineering-flaws.html
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/TheBigDig.aspx

14. “The LTA's Design team “did not view the critical task of
recommending the suspension or stoppage of work as a
matter within their purview”. They had deemed it the
responsibility of the LTA's Construction Team. The
procrastination and lack of decisive action proved to be
catastrophic”
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/content/dam/imindef_media_library/pdf/air_force/Focus66.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nicoll_Highway_MRT_Station,_Construction_site,_Aug_07.jpg

15. NTUC fired an assistant director who posted a racist comment on Facebook
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20121008-376209.html

16. Professional
Standards, codes of conduct
Plagiarism, patent infringement
Confidentiality
Lifecycle, sustainability
Fair trade
Product liability
Engineering disasters
depts.washington.edu/englib/eld/conf/04/richards_ethics.ppt

17. CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ETHICS
Part of the PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS ACT (http://app.peb.gov.sg/actrules.aspx#)
I.2.1: A professional engineer shall uphold the dignity, standing and reputation of the
profession.
I.3.4: A professional engineer shall not accept any trade commission, discount, allowance or
indirect payment or other consideration in connection with any professional engineering work
in which he is engaged.
I.3.7: A professional engineer shall not disclose confidential information concerning the
business affairs or technical processes of his client or employer without the consent of the client
or employer.
I.3.10: A professional engineer shall not give professional advice which does not fully reflect his
best professional judgment.
I.7.2: The professional engineer previously employed may report the matter to the Board if he
has reasonable grounds for not being satisfied with the security, and the Board may forbid the
first-mentioned professional engineer in sub-paragraph (1) from proceeding with the work.
II.2. A professional engineer shall not, for the purpose of obtaining any permit, license or
approval of any public authority, sign any plans or calculations which neither he nor any
member of his staff under his supervision verified, checked or prepared.

18. SAMPLE PROFESSIONAL CODES IN DESIGN
• “A designer shall not allow his/her name to be associated with
the realisation of a design which has been so changed by the
client as no longer to be substantially the original work of the
designer” Design Institute of Australia: www.dia.org.au
• “A designer shall not work simultaneously on assignments
which are in direct competition without informing the clients or
employers concerned” ICOGRADA: www.icograda.org
• “We ask all adopters to engage in conversation about social and
environmental impact with every client and customer, and
integrate sustainable alternatives in their work” Designers
Accord: www.designersaccord.org

19. Case #1
You are part of a team designing a new mall in
Singapore. You received information from the
structural engineer that certain aspect of the main
lobby needs to be redesigned. Your boss brings over a
document for you to sign. It is about certifying that the
architectural design is complete. The document is
needed before moving on to the next phase.
The entire project will fall behind if you delay passing
on that document but you believe you have time to fix
the design problem before construction begins.

20. Case #2
You are a professional designer working for a design firm.
Your boss comes asks you to prepare a presentation on
sustainable design for the company meeting on future
directions. You are in the middle of an important project
that is due in 2 days.
Luckily you remember seeing a presentation on similar topic
in a workshop last month. You email the workshop
organizers to ask for the slides from that event. You say it is
for your personal use only. You change the background of
the slides to the company template but do not other
changes to the slides. You present those at the meeting.

21. Case #3
You are an engineer designing a bridge to a new
man-made island that will open for the holiday
season in December. You’ve been working on it, but
your do not finish by the deadline.
You come to the meeting where the final plans are
to be discussed and approved so that construction
can begin. You present what you have.

22. Social
Human Rights
Responsible consumers
Citizenship:
Corruption www.cpib.gov.sg
Kindness www.kindness.sg

23. Case #4
As an architectural firm, your income is entirely
dependent on securing projects to work on. You are
competing for a very large architectural project. If
you win it your firm will get a lot of positive media
attention, which in turn will lead to more and more
projects for several years. To improve your odds,
you invite several key members of the deciding
panel to a very exclusive country club and treat
them for a luxurious day. You end up winning
getting the commission.

24. Case #5
As an engineer testing designs for electronic
components, you discover they fail in a particular
location. Subsequent investigation shows that the
failures are due to a nearby high-powered radar
facility. While you can shield your own designs so
that they can work in this environment, you also
notice that there is an adjacent nursery school.
What actions, if any, should you take?

25. Case #6
“There have long been calls from various segments of
society for Foreign Domestic Workers to enjoy a regular day
off. More than physical rest, it is an important mental and
emotional break from work. Also, a weekly rest day is
regarded internationally as a basic labour right.
It is time to take a step forward by amending our legislation
to improve the employment conditions of FDWs. While
some employers may respond to this decision with
apprehension, employers also stand to benefit from a
weekly rest day…” MOM: FAQs ON WEEKLY REST DAYS FOR
FOREIGN DOMESTIC WORKERS
http://www.mom.gov.sg/Documents/foreign-manpower/FAQs%20on%20weekly%20rest%20days%20for%20FDWs.pdf
http://twc2.org.sg/2011/06/27/attitudes-towards-granting-regular-days-off-to-migrant-domestic-workers-in-singapore/

26. Academic
Plagiarism
False statements
False data & evidence
Team and cohort dynamics

27. Case #7
You forgot that you had to hand in a Solid Works
model file in class.
You quick ask your friend to send their file to you.
You open it on your computer and present it as
yours.
You pass the assignment.

28. Case #8
You are used to getting good grades in school. Now
in a university, you realize you have to work much
harder to get a decent grade. You work hard and
get barely any sleep from all the homework and
studying.
You find that the best way for you to get good
grades is to work very little on team projects. You
know the rest of the team will pull it off and you
will get their grade too. That way you can use that
time toward your individual work.

29. Case #9
You have worked really hard on your project and
need some sleep. You wake up and realize you are
late for class. You run in without eating breakfast.
You make it in for the last 15 minutes of the lecture.
At the end of the lecture you go and sign the
attendance sheet. You also noticed you have an
absence form two weeks ago, you sign that one too.

30. Lots of Research!
Stanford Prison Experiment
Milgram Experiment
‘Heat of the Moment’ – Ariely &
Loewenstein
‘Dishonesty in Everyday Life’ – Mazar &
Ariely
depts.washington.edu/englib/eld/conf/04/richards_ethics.ppt

31. Obedience to Authority
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcvSNg0HZwk

32. Milgram Experiment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
We tend to obey authority, even when we know our orders
are ‘wrong’.
Bonus: think about the ethics of experimentation – was this
experiment ethical?

33. Stanford Prison Experiment
Cognitive dissonance: two states of
reason/ethics/morality existing simultaneously

34. Key issues
Sometimes the culture of an organisation allows
(even incentivises) poor choices
Seemingly unimportant early choices may escalate
into later large-scale decisions
Relying on memory, assumptions or incomplete
information can lead to disaster
Explore creative ways of re-framing the
conundrum; point out extenuating circumstances

35. Strategies (1)
Avoid temptation
Prepare and anticipate decisions
Develop habits, build a reputation
Speak up: avoid conformism

36. Strategies (1)
Avoid temptation
Prepare and anticipate decisions
Develop habits, build a reputation
Speak up: avoid conformism
Case #4: Treating decision Case #6: Signing
makers at an exclusive attendance sheets
country club to win a without being present
project

37. Heat of the moment
http://cdn.worldcupblog.org/www.worldcupb http://images4.mtv.com/uri/mgid:uma:content:
log.org/files/2009/12/Zidane_headbutt.jpg mtv.com:1621389?width=281&height=211
You don’t have the capacity to fully understand the
consequences of your actions in the moment.
Prepare for this moment!
http://people.duke.edu/~dandan/Papers/PI/Heat_of_Moment.pdf

38. Strategies (2)
Learn how to cite and acknowledge
Understand the consequences of your
decisions
Make your values explicit

39. Strategies (2)
Learn how to cite and acknowledge
Understand the consequences of your
decisions
Make your values explicit
Case #2: Presenting Case #7: Presenting some
workshop slides as your one else’s Solid Works
own drawing as own

40. Strategies (3)
Reveal hidden costs
Identify trade-offs
Think long-term
Consider entire life cycle

41. Case #1: Singing off on
Strategies (3) final drawings knowing
there is a structural
problem (that you think
you have time to fix)
Reveal hidden costs
Case #3: Coming to a
meeting about approving
Identify trade-offs
final plans without having
finalized own work
Think long-term
Case #9: Letting others do
Consider entire life the work for you in team
cycle projects.

42. Strategies (4)
Don’t hide anything: Transparency means that actions and
choices are open for examination
Don’t make things up: Don’t falsify data and don’t invent
facts
Give credit for the ideas and work of others
Empathy: Identify the stakeholders and think about the
effect of your decisions on them
Fernandez, John E., Edward M. Greitzer and Sang-Gook Kim.
Course materials for TECH 201, Introduction to Design. MIT-SUTD Collaboration, 2012

43. Case #4: Treating decision
Strategies (4) makers at an exclusive
country club to win a
project
Don’t hide anything: Transparency means that actions and
choices are open for examination
Don’t make things up: Don’t falsify data and don’t invent
facts
Give credit for the ideas and work of others
Empathy: Identify the stakeholders and think about the
effect of your decisions on them
Case #2: Presenting
workshop slides as your
Fernandez, John E., Edward M. Greitzer and Sang-Gook Kim.
own Course materials for TECH 201, Introduction to Design. MIT-SUTD Collaboration, 2012

44. Strategies (5)
Question standard decisions
Challenge accepted practices
Avoid narrow and compartmentalized
decisions
Talk about ideals and culture
depts.washington.edu/englib/eld/conf/04/richards_ethics.ppt

45. Case #1: Singing off on final
Strategies (5) drawings knowing there is a
structural problem (that you
think you have time to fix)
Question standard decisions
Challenge accepted practices
Avoid narrow and compartmentalized
decisions
Talk about ideals and culture
Case #5: Telling about Case #6: Signing
high-power radar facility attendance sheets
and its effect on a nearby without being present
nursery school depts.washington.edu/englib/eld/conf/04/richards_ethics.ppt

46. Everyday dishonesty
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/- http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-
JEdgRu0rZvY/T8DznFEW4OI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ images/Technology/Pix/pictures/2009/11/11/125796052245
DM6j3ubYE_g/s1600/honest-cab-driver- 8/Pirate-DVDs-001.jpg
return-wallet-to-OFW.jpg
We are good at fooling ourselves into thinking our acts
are not dishonest. We return a wallet, but pirate media.
Remove temptation, make causal links!
http://people.duke.edu/~dandan/Papers/PI/dishonesty.pdf

47. Self-Defeating
• What is the maxim?
• Universalize the maxim
• Is it self-defeating?
Suppose you are tempted to copy the answers for your exam
from your neighbor's paper
Think of the world in which copying is universalized. You copy
from your neighbor, your neighbor from her neighbor, and so on
Is it self-defeating?
http://cnx.org/content/m17226/latest/?collection=col10552/latest

48. Whistleblowing
“Employees and outside parties, such as suppliers, customers,
contractors and other stakeholders, may use the procedures set
out in the Policy to report any concern or complaint regarding
questionable accounting or auditing matters, internal controls,
disclosure matters, conflict of interest, insider trading, collusion
with competitors, serious breaches of Group policy, unsafe work
practices or any other matters involving fraud, corruption and
employee misconduct….
However, while the Policy is meant to protect genuine
whistleblowers from any unfair treatment as a result of their
report, it strictly prohibits frivolous and bogus complaints…”
http://www.sph.com.sg/whistleblowing_policy.shtml

49. Framing and functional failures
• Function: what your designs does as a means of
resolving a problem
• Framing: how relevant your design is when
addressing a problem
“A failing of functionality indicts
the designer on charges of poor
craftsmanship, while a failure
of procedure points to general
ineptitude”
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XiWuxYHivU
http://socialinformaticsblog.com/2012/11/13/the-ethics-of-design-in-increasingly-complex-situations-the-case-of-a-broken-voting-machine/

50. “Good Design”
http://www.acquris.se/images/kalashnikov_ak-47_3.jpg

51. “Good Design”
www.designtoimprovelife.dk/
http://www.openideo.com
www.projecthdesign.org www.designagainstcrime.com/ http://d-lab.mit.edu/ www.designother90.org/

52. 3.007 Design Ethics
Aims - To raise awareness of ethical issues
- To identify ethical dilemmas and risks
- To share strategies for decision making

53. Quotes
“A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world”
Albert Camus
“Ethics is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do
and what is right to do” Potter Stewart
“The first step in the evolution of ethics is a sense of solidarity with
other human beings” Albert Schweitzer
“There's been a sea change in our focus on corporate ethics. We've
made more progress in the last three years than the previous 30”
Steve Odland

54. Case #
Phua Poh Sim was a Captain with the Singapore Armed
Forces (SAF) with an impressive track record. Yet, life is not
always a series of happy endings - this young man started
accumulating debts because of a gambling addiction. Phua
took the easy way out, when his friend, determined to help
him with his debts, introduced him to a Defence Contractor
(Richard Yow Wah) who was interested in procuring SAF
contracts. Between May 2008 to August 2008, Phua received
S$53,100 of loans on 5 occasions from Richard and in
exchange, shared information about SAF projects with him.
http://app.cpib.gov.sg/cpib_new/user/default.aspx?pgID=1225

55. Engineering Ethics Modules for Ethics Across the Curriculum
http://cnx.org/content/col10552/latest/