I started reading “The Ethical Design Handbook” by Trine Falbe, Martin Michael Frederiksen, and Kim Andersen (it was one of the very first resources I discovered and noted down in the initial gathering process that led to the choice of my thesis topic) and now, I treat it as an ongoing, dip-in resource rather than a straight-through textbook. It is framed as a practical guide for leaving dark patterns behind and making ethical design part of everyday digital product work, not just a side note. For my thesis on helping people manage their digital footprints, this book feels like a toolkit I can slowly mine: I can pick the chapters that match my current questions, use them, and then come back later when a new angle opens up.
Right now, I’m really chewing alot on the second chapter “The Need for Ethics in Design”, because it sets up why ethical design has to be more than simple legal compliance. The authors walk through consequences of unethical design and show how dark patterns, aggressive tracking, and manipulative interfaces damage trust and harm users. They also introduce ethical principles like non-instrumentalism, self-determination, responsibility, and fairness, and connect them to familiar frameworks such as Privacy by Design. Reading this as a preparatory part of my future thesis work, is really helping me sharpen the language to better describe what bothers me about many current products and services: which currently treat people purely as data sources or conversion targets, this very action breaks those core principles and undermines users’ ability to effectively understand and shape their digital footprints.
What feels especially useful is how concrete the book tries to be. It is not just “be nice to users” as an abstract value statement; it tries to build an actual working framework, including tools like the Ethical Design Scorecard and “ethical blueprints” for real design processes. The scorecard is meant to assess how a product performs on different ethical dimensions, with weighted criteria. For my thesis, this sparks a very practical idea: I could adapt or extend such a scorecard specifically around footprint-related questions like what data is collected, how transparent the flows are, how easy it is to revoke or change consent, and whether users can see or manage their historical data in meaningful ways.
This chapter also acknowledges that change has to happen inside teams and businesses, not just in individual designers’ heads. Later parts of the book (which I plan to read next) focus on “creating positive change” and “the business of ethical design”, arguing that ethical practices can be aligned with sustainable business models instead of being framed as a cost. That connects well with my thesis constraint of balancing business needs with user autonomy: if I can borrow some of the arguments and models from these chapters, I can show how ethical digital footprint management is not just “good for users” but also part of a long-term, trust-based product strategy.
As an ongoing read, I see myself using this book in two ways. First, as a language and framework source: the principles and scorecard approach help me structure the “ethical requirements” part of my thesis more clearly. Second, as a bridge to practice: the blueprints and case-studies can inform how I generally approach projects/work in my career to more genuinely support user agency instead of nudging people into over-sharing and not giving them effective ways to manage what has been overshared.
Here is the official site for The Ethical Design Handbook, which includes the table of contents, the ethical design scorecard, and downloadable blueprints that expand on the tools discussed in the book:
https://ethicaldesignhandbook.com
Smashing Magazine’s book page gives a good high-level overview of the book’s goals, including how it aims to help teams replace dark patterns with honest patterns while still supporting business KPIs:
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/printed-books/ethical-design-handbook/
Finally, this Smashing Magazine article announcing the handbook’s release explains why the book was written and emphasizes the need for practical, long-lasting solutions to move companies away from manipulative design and towards sustainable, ethical digital footprints:
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2020/03/ethical-design-handbook-release/
Disclaimer: This blog post was developed with AI assistance (Perplexity) to help with structuring and phrasing my reflections.
