I’m doing some research at the moment for a blog post I’m writing for Sitepoint on ethics in user experience design. One of the areas I’m looking at is the ethics of incorporating user experience design principles in the design and development of online gambling sites and applications. It’s a massive can of worms and one that I find offensive from a moral perspective.
Don’t make me do it
There are specific industries for which I will never work, and the gambling industry is on the top of that list. I know this because I’ve said no in the past and it felt GOOD.
While working for my last employer, a reasonably large piece of work came in from a very well known gambling company (I am choosing not to link to either as neither deserve a single click of recognition). At the time it was thought that all areas of the business would be involved in the project, including: technical testing, performance and load testing and usability. I was absolutely appalled that the company I worked for was excited by the prospect of ‘winning’ this job. It disgusted me to see that they were prepared to throw experts in performance and usability at a project that would, if successful, increase the opportunity for people to lose their money.
My position was made clear to both my group and the company that I would not work on the project, and that I was disappointed that the company was not prepared to take a moral stand and decline the work. Had I been forced to work on it, I would have resigned, without a doubt. There are numerous web agencies that decline work from industries deemed to be harmful, including gambling and tobacco, but sadly for my past employer the money was too enticing.
The ethics of judgement
This is a challenging topic for me as it highlights an area of my life in which I am judgemental of others. Not of those that gamble, but of those that promote, encourage and enhance the experience. It literally sickens me and I find no way of understanding why a professional, user experience consultant would ever choose to work on such a job.
So I’ll leave you with this, something I found during my research and the motivation for this post today. A conference session at the Mobile Gambling Summit, Asia 2005:
Ensure user needs are answered at every link in the mobile gambling value chain
Driving ARPU* means creating an engaging and glitch-free user experience that will leave your customers hungry for more. How to adopt a user centred approach throughout the mobile gambling value chain.Roland Keller, Global Innovation Manager, Siemens
pdf source
*ARPU is an acronym for Average Revenue Per User
I really don’t know how people find themselves in these jobs, but I’m sure glad it isn’t me…