Buy adipex no prescription, Let me tell you something you hopefully already know... Online gambling is a dark and sinister hole that needs plugging. Nothing good comes from it and it serves no healthy purpose, order adipex overnight delivery. So if you're involved in the promotion of gambling in anyway you should have a long hard look at yourself and then try feeding a family of 4 on $20 bucks a week. Cheap adipex online, If you're involved in the promotion of ONLINE gambling, you should start questioning what sort of a life sucking, self-centered, Massachusetts MA Mass., lazy ass you are for not finding another job. Then you should give all your savings away, try feeding three children off a pension while covering the rent, and wonder about how you're ever going to make restitution, buy adipex no prescription. Buy adipex overnight delivery, To be absolutely clear, I'm talking about people who facilitate, encourage and entice people to gamble, ordering adipex no prescription, particularly online. Cheapest adipex price, I am not in any way referring to people who gamble. That's another thing all together and has nothing to do with usability - which is what this post is about.
But first let's put this issue in perspective and think about what providing a great online gambling experience really means.., Massachusetts MA Mass..
Buy adipex no prescription, Problem gambling, with its potentially devastating impacts on the finances, personal lives and relationships of the affected gamblers, is related to heightened anxiety, depression, and in extreme cases, to suicide.Up to 60% of problem gamblers will experience some level of suicidal thought. Order adipex no prescription, This may be vague (often after major losses), or serious intent with a clear plan. It is also common for clients to have had one or more failed suicide attempts, Georgia GA Ga..
The results of a survey (Simon, Adipex online store, USA, 1995) on compulsive gamblers found that:
- 20% had attempted suicide
- 63% had seriously considered suicide.
These figures were 50 times greater than most 'within lifetime' estimates for the general population. - Wesley Mision
A recent post on twitter promoting an article on usability and online betting caught my attention this evening, buy adipex no prescription. It said:
Usability and online betting - some good points here [URL cut] #ux @cinteractionlab
My immediate response was to question why a usability professional would promote such a thing as being of use, Maryland MD Md., but then I wondered... Adipex prescription, Who on earth would write such an article in the first place?. Aren't we supposed to work in an ethical manner and act with integrity?
When, in a professional capacity (I guess that's rather questionable) or otherwise, buy adipex online, is it ever acceptable to promote methods that enhance the usability or experience of online gambling - or 'betting' as they call it (which somehow seems slightly softer and more 'nanna' like). Buy adipex no prescription, Why is it ethically, morally or professionally acceptable for a User Experience Consultancy to conduct and promote this kind of work. Buy adipex no prescription, While I refuse to link to the article, here's one pearl of 'professional research' they'd like to share for the next time you enhance a betting site:
The site should convey the range of bets available without compromising task efficiency. This is vital if the site is to encourage 'impulse' betting, ordering adipex overnight delivery. Although some users will know what they want, Cheap generic adipex, others may be looking to be 'tempted' and will benefit from having a range of possible bets presented to them.·
In other words, make it as easy as possible, in fact, pharmacy adipex, let's encourage people to benefit from being 'tempted' to gamble money on impulse. Vermont VT Vt., I'm pleased to say the article is actually complete rubbish and if you replaced 'betting' with 'shopping' or 'shoes' you still wouldn't learn anything new.
But my point is this:
If you're a web professional, anyone working in usability or any other user experience related role, order adipex, your job is to enhance the life of others, Michigan MI Mich., not ruin it.
With regard to professional conduct, the Usability Professionals Association has published a Code of Professional Conduct
of which three of the seven Ethical Principles are:
- Act in the best interest of everyone
- Do no harm and if possible provide benefits
- Act with integrity
The 'User Experience Design Consultancy' would do well to remind themselves of these guidelines before they accept their next job...
Some Dirty Dark Choice Quotes
As I said earlier, I won't link to the article, you can Google it if you like, buy adipex no prescription. But what I will do is tell you that there are no interesting usability tips, buy adipex. If you know the basic elements of usability you won't learn a thing there. Adipex no prescription, If you don't know the basics, it certainly isn't the place to learn them. As User Experience Consultants, where to buy adipex, this is an unenlightening, Order adipex online, useless article.
So what I will share instead is some of their fascinating insights:
- Buy adipex no prescription, "For many users gambling is something of an impulsive habit, and the 24 hour availability of a web-based operation means that users are able to place bets whenever they choose."
- "Placing a bet, which is the common task on any site of this nature, must also be as efficient as possible."
- "The spread betting industry, mentioned above, has seen a number of companies bring a whole new audience profile into the gambling industry, simply by refocusing how the 'game' works and the types of events that are used for betting purposes."
And I especially love this one:
- "If this process is slow, confusing or off-putting to the user in any way, site revenues are bound to suffer."
I wrote about this a few years ago in Ethics, Gambling and Usability, which should provide more background on why I feel so strongly against gambling. But just to reiterate, my issue here is with gambling establishments and other organisations that promote, price of adipex, enhance and facilitate gambling in a way that purposely entices gamblers to bet (and mostly problem gamblers at that). It isn't with gamblers themselves.
If people choose to gamble, that's their decision. But making it easier to gamble by enhancing the experience, by making it easier, faster and more efficient to lose money is certainly not acting in the best interest of anyone, it does do harm, it provides no long term benefits (if at all) and it definitely fails to act with integrity.
Some discussion questions...
- Is it ever OK to design for the dark side?
- What is the dark side for you. What industries would you never design for?
- What ethical dilemmas have you faced in creating a good user experience?
- Which organisations deserve so much good karma that you would work Pro Bono on the User Experience Design?
Interested in reading more on this topic?
Gambling Research Australia
Youth Problem Gambling In Australia
Need help with Problem Gambling?
Gamblers Anonymous
What is Problem Gambling?
Support Services For Problem Gambling
If you're Australian, support Independent Senator Nick Xenophon
Xenophon wants gambling draft report made public
Nick Xenophon - Independent Senator for South Australia
.
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I hear what you’re saying, but I must respectfully disagree.
UX designers have the choice to decide who to work for. Once we decide, however, our responsibility is to the people who will use our products as well as to our sponsors. Our ethics should be focused on our users and their experiences.
Unless you believe in absolutes of good and evil, you cannot take such a hard line for everyone. Had you written this post from the standpoint of “_I_ wouldn’t take a job trying to improve online gambling’s usability because _I believe_ the entire industry conflicts with my ethical positions,” I would have completely agreed with you.
You mention the UPA’s guidelines. I wonder if NOT designing the site well would harm the business owners, their employees, and their families. They’re people too, after all.
UX designers should strive to improve the experiences that users encounter or build when using the products that UX designers design…be they kitty-kat Web sites, porn viewers, cigarette manufacturing systems, or missile targeting systems. Individuals should fashion their own paths through life based on their own ethical standards, but I fear when they try to impose them on others.
Again, I respectfully disagree. But thanks for bringing this up–it’s definitely well worth discussing in our profession.
Great article! And you raise excellent points.
Joe, I don’t think you’ve contradicted anything Lisa wrote. I agree that you have an obligation to do your best by your client. But that doesn’t oblige you to accept anyone as a client. And if you decide to join an organisation like the UPA, then you must be prepared to abide by their standards of conduct – otherwise, why join?
Which is not to say there is anything wrong with not joining the UPA. Or in accepting clients that I wouldn’t. There may well be clients I’d accept that you would not.
I won’t dictate ethics to anyone. It’s just that some people’s ethics are utterly abhorrent to me and I’m not interested in associating with those people.
Which brings me to the questions (which I’ve answered in a horribly straightforward manner):
* Is it ever OK to design for the dark side?
I’d like to say no, but standing on your principles is much harder when you and your family are hungry and in debt. I hope to never have that problem.
* What is the dark side for you? What industries would you never design for?
Gambling. Military contractors. Some political parties. Religious groups.
Looking at those, I reckon they fall into a broad category of people-pushing-agendas-I-don’t-agree-with.
OTOH, I’ve met plenty of people who think I went to the dark side when I worked for News. Some people would literally turn up their noses when we were introduced at parties and the like.
That didn’t feel good.
* What ethical dilemmas have you faced in creating a good user experience?
Luckily, I’ve never found myself in a situation where
a) I couldn’t convince people to take the right path, or
b) the lesser path was bad enough that I felt internally conflicted.
* Which organisations deserve so much good karma that you would work Pro Bono on the User Experience Design?
Well, I already volunteer for Greyhound Rescue Australia so animal rescue organisations are obviously in.
For me I think a part of that decision would be the size of the organisation. Although I admire the Salvation Army’s charity work and donate cash to them myself, I’m unlikely to donate my time as I feel they’re big enough to pay for what they need. Whereas GR are small, financially limited and have little prospect of getting help from anyone else with my skills.
Hi Lisa
Thanks for the interesting post.
I think I agree with both you and Joe, in that:
- I think gambling is abhorrent and a scourge on society, and that there should be much tighter restrictions and controls on it; but
- I don’t see why usability is innately a profession that should only ever be applied in “ethical” contexts (whatever one defines those as).
Usability/user-experience design is a skill and a philosophy for crafting interactions just as a pen is a tool for writing. Usability/UX design could be applied to a website for saving stray kittens or one for destroying said kittens, just like a pen can be used to write a love poem or a hate-filled diatribe against a sub-group of society. We wouldn’t argue that pens should only be used for writing ethical works, would we? Not only would it be futile, it would be constraining human rights not to mention nearly impossible to decide where the boundaries lie.
I suppose what I’m trying to suggest is that any field or professional skill can be applied for both good and evil. Sure, the field of usability/UX seems to have its disproportionate share of caring, compassionate folks, which is not surprising given the profession’s overall aims. But as Joe suggests, isn’t it still up to each one of those people to decide what sort of work they are willing to do, and for whom?
Maybe given that gambling is something that you feel passionate about, you could contact the author of the article directly and try to share some information with them about how detrimental it is to those who are addicted?
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and as Joe said, my comments are all made with much respect.
Cheers
Jessica
Great article/rant Lisa – though I feel in this case part of what you’re referring to (especially with the part of the article you cite) spills into persuasive technology, and BJ Fogg has a great section on the ethics of using computers as tools of persuasion in his book Persuasive Technology.
But in general, absolutely UX practitioners should seek to uphold ethical and moral practices – although the context of local culture can make it hard to make global decrees of what ethical and moral behaviour actually is objectively.
Great provoking article lisa, and I agree with some of what you suggest.
I work in UX and was a croupier at star city and jupiters casino in another life. I totally agree with what your saying and i got to the point as a croupier where it felt like i was a drug dealer! Going into that mindless shitty environment (with no windows or clocks) night after night made me want to end it! I was taught to have a very thick skin, check my moral compass at the door and to not let punters issues affect me. It’s the only way to get through a shift and not feel responsible. I got into the casino industry so I could work overseas in all manner of contexts. Casinos are everywhere. I got out of it the minute I moved to Sydney and opened my own business. A means to an end in my younger years.
Gamblers are addicts, they suffer all the same pathologies as drug addicts do.. They get their highs from the win! They are addicted to the chemical rush of winning, it replaces common sense, it destroys lives and more importantly families in the process.. It is insidious and counter to a healthy society. Yet in this state it is legal! i think this a much bigger issue than just using UX for good or evil. The same could be said in marketing and advertising or in any industry where peoples emotions are played with intentionally to yield a conversion. What about sports betting and tipping sites? What about the UI designers that design poker machine interfaces! Ewww! I think rampant consumerism is killing this planet and now shapes entire countries in that are now there to make our stuff cheap, so that the price of purchase can be kept to a minimum. Check out the story of stuff website.
I guess my message is where do we draw the line? We get engaged by a business to solve a problem, we aim to understand what drives users and find way’s to manipulate their value perception to establish and activate the need within them. The older we get the more we consider the consequences of our actions. I’ve worked in agencies where they run campaigns for the big booze companies, I asked to not work on that account as I have friends and family who have battled alcoholism. Its personal which makes it that more relevant. Its easier to stand back and fully appreciate the consequences, it becomes personal when someone around you is affected.
What about the marketing and sales of alcohol? Alcoholism destroys lives and families also. Tobacco is now socially unacceptable, when will alcohol be as unacceptable? Why is gambling striking a cord with you, when alcohol doesn’t? Its all relative.
I know it’s a blurry line, but advertising and the businesses they represent are responsible for so much damage to this planet and lives by making us need to keep buying shit. But ultimately we make the decision to buy, to use, to drink, to starve ourselves or whatever it is, we know its bad but we do it anyways. This is the human condition. Gamblers say it gives them joy and occupies their time. People close to them see a different side.
The point im trying to make is that society dictates what’s acceptable, casino’s are open 24hrs and say to the general public that gambling is ok. We glamorise the horse racers, and turn that into a national event! We can choose the type of work we take on based on how we as individuals feel about the subject matter or objectives. But ultimately society dictates what’s acceptable and what’s not.
I think the message is, stop and consider what you’re doing and the wider implications if so choose to.
I agree that gambling is a scourge. I loath the “Poker Machine Dens” that populate every pub and club in NSW and I know, based on my working experience, how doomed the people are who play them.
But, prior to forming such an opinion I worked for an Australian based software developer who built web based gambling systems for regulated environments.
The key point there was ‘regulated’, in that they operated in countries like Australia or Holland, where strict rules applied to such things as payout ratios, 100 point identity checks, loss limits (you could only lose x dollars per time period), time limits on playing and temporary and permanent self exclusion.
Could these features benefit from a UX person participation in the design of such risk mitigation strategies? Probably.
Those features meant that online gambling had a higher level of risk mitigation than your local RSL club, where one can sit, 18 hours a day, 7 days a week and never be approached.
But back to the specific question, every individual should have the right to use their own judgement about what and who they contribute their personal efforts to.
But each individual will have their own definition of ‘the dark side’.
I don’t think you can or should generalise such subjective values to a whole profession.
I can’t say who I wouldn’t work for specifically, I think it would depend on the role and the company, but tobacco companies, alcohol companies, weapons manufacturers would probably top the list.
Thought provoking, pot stirring piece. It’s a slippery slope to advocate what other professionals shouldn/not work on, the ‘dark side’ is so subjective: gambling? porn? alcohol? cigarettes? ya? da?
Interesting background Jason!
Thanks to each of you for taking the time to give such calm and considered comments. I appreciate that this is a polarising topic and that I’ve taken a very hard line approach.
You’ve created a really interesting discussion, which I can’t join for another few hours unfortunately. I’m working onsite with a client o/s this week and can’t take time out as I usually would to engage and respond.
I definitely want to join the discussion though, so see you back here in a few hours :)
Thanks for taking the time to read and respond to what is a very important subject to me.
Lisa
No matter what career you are in, I don’t think you should work for a company or cause that is in conflict with your ethical standpoint. That is a recipe for unpleasantness. Although as Lachlan said, I can understand people being desperate enough that they would consider it.
As far as ethical dilemmas go, I have not had to face many, being a developer whose focus is on educational organisations and animal welfare. If I ever did commercial sites, I’d have to work out the line between persuasion and manipulation of potential buyers. I am not a fan of the materialistic urges for the newest and shiniest things, and wouldn’t want to become a part of the machine supporting that culture.
So for me the dark side is anything that promote excess consumption and consumerism. Websites for cosmetic surgery aimed at people who really don’t need it. (I support the individual choosing for themselves, but I am saddened when people think the most important thing for them right now is a tummy tuck… people who have been in accidents and the like I completely understand, though.) Gambling falls under my “excessive consumption” banner.
No matter what career you are in, I don’t think you should work for a company or cause that is in conflict with your ethical standpoint.
Definitely true, unless you’re starving.
But I don’t get the absolutism here (or in the linked 2007 post) – not saying Lisa should change her opinions of course, just that I find the emphasis on gambling as a unique social evil, rather than the much broader list of concerns that Wendy lists, a bit strange. Most of the people I know are occasional gamblers; perhaps one of the people I know is a serious problem gambler.
I’ve worked in the alcoholic drinks marketing industry for a sizeable proportion of my working life. All of the strategic advice I’ve given to clients (mostly major corporations) in that role has been about sustainable maximisation of sales – if you try and target kids, or promote irresponsible drinking, then it’s commercially disastrous in the long term as well as being morally wrong. Rather, you focus on getting people to drink more expensive (hence higher margin) drinks, on promoting drinking with meals, and generally encouraging the consumption of alcohol in a way that’s enjoyable like any other sensory experience.
In general, the companies that break ethical codes and do promote excessive drinking and underage drinking are small operators who don’t last long and don’t have much to lose.
I’ve not worked in online gambling, but it would be surprising to me if similar attitudes didn’t apply.
The only area I do know a bit about is spread-betting, where I think you’ve misunderstood the original article’s advice: spread-betting is focused on sophisticated players betting against each other and is generally regulated as a financial investment. Gambling firms like it because it involves having wealthy customers who aren’t stereotypical slot machine users, and who do only play what they can afford to lose.
Thanks for bringing this up — it’s an important discussion to have, and everyone has had insightful comments, some of which I’ll echo.
First it should be mentioned that not all gambling is brainless and evil to begin with. I know quite a few people who are extremely successful poker players online and face-to-face; for anyone who knows what they’re doing, it’s more strategy than luck. If all players were skilled would the industry be profitable? I’m not sure what their margins are like, but I’d guess not.
I agree that many forms of gambling are effectively soul-sucking (slot machines, video poker, etc), and personally would prefer not to work with such a company — but in a way I respect them. The couple times I’ve been to a casino I was repulsed but absolutely fascinated at the attention to experience design. The floor plan is deliberately difficult to navigate so you’re likely to get lost and play more games. The temperature and airflow are highly controlled. Drinks are frequently free while you’re playing. It’s utterly, nefariously brilliant. Online gambling is a very different experience in that companies have only the digital experience, basic game mechanics and the reward of winning to attract and keep people.
But whether it’s in-person or digital, mindless chance or involving some level of strategy, I could argue that playing arcade games is equally soul-sucking. Or riding roller coasters. Or attending sporting events. In all of these things, you’re not getting particularly measurable returns — you’re paying for an experience. The adrenaline rush, which has the danger of being addicting. Granted, roller coasters and sporting events are difficult to get addicted to since there is a higher up-front barrier to entry (physically getting there and the lump-sum cost of admission). The chance for winning something personally (a prize or money or just satisfaction from a high score) makes playing games more addicting.If you’re playing for the potential reward rather than the experience, you’re in dangerous territory. Are arcade games more acceptable than casino-style games because the stakes and rewards are lower? Relatively, I’d say they’re not lower — when I was a kid I blew a couple dollars in quarters on one of those toy crane machines trying to get a specific stuffed animal. That was a lot of money for me at the time, and I will never forget the incident (maybe they’re just there to scare kids off from gambling early on?)
When it comes down to it, the main goal of many businesses is to get people addicted to their product, whether or not that addiction is physical or psychological (ex: brand loyalty). That in itself is not considered unethical, at least in our modern consumerist reality. The problem arises when that addiction is substantially detrimental to the customer (or their family/friends). That substantiality is the variable that we all have to decide for ourselves.
It’s unfortunate that we have industries predicated on people losing. Another complicated example is the insurance industry, where you’re not even getting an experience, just betting that at some point something bad will happen and you’ll need a particular amount of money to pay to fix it. Is that an acceptable business because the occasional payoff can save lives?
Back to the gambling world specifically, I would love to see UXers create a great, enticing gaming experience that responds intelligently to the user’s behavior — giving tips to newbies, warning or stopping a user if they seem to be losing a lot of money (or letting them designate a limit in advance). I really like the idea of regulating the industry, but where there are no regulations I wonder if more ethical models could be made more appealing to the business. Is it possible to treat gamblers with care to dissuade serious addiction while being profitable?
Right on sister!
Great post – couldn’t agree more.
Lisa, you’re right. Ideally we shouldn’t do anything unethical, harmful, inconsiderate or stupid. But we all do.
I’ve provided UX services for a project related to horse racing (you may remember me talking about it). The resulting website does not actually facilitate gambling itself, but to deny it’s not promoting it would be splitting hairs. Does this make me unethical? A bad person? A bad UX professional? You decide.
Did I think about the issues you raise before agreeing to do the work? Not really, it was my job and I have a family to feed with my wages.
Would I have lost my job if I had refused to do it? Don’t know, maybe.
Could I have quit? Sure but I’m not going to jeopardise my family’s well-being over people who should know better than to flush their life away on gambling (no matter how much it’s promoted and marketed by big companies on the dark side).
And that’s the thing isn’t it, people have to take responsibility for their own actions, at the end of the day. Many, many people drink and smoke (both of which are bad for you and really bad for society…probably more so than gambling) so do we try to ban those activities? What about recreational drugs or promiscuous sex? What about online gaming which unnecessarily uses electricity? There’s no end to the things that are bad for us (individually and collectively) but as other commenters have said already, where do you draw the line?
To bring this back to your original topic, what client _wouldn’t_ have _something_ in their closet? (And could afford to pay you?)
My point is that moderation is needed. And to that point, here’s yet another rhetorical question. Would I stop to think about it a bit more after reading you post? Yep, probably. You’re a good person Lisa, and you stand up fro things you believe in. Without people like you, we wouldn’t be able to take a moderate, compromising stance because we wouldn’t be reminded of the impact of the issues connected with the work we do. Although I don’t really agree with you, keep it up :)
I agree, however I take this one step further in relation to anything that is addictive in a major way. This includes online gaming like WoW and the like all the way to online liquor shops. I have refused work on them all.
The ethics is something we all have to deal with, it’s a personal line. Years ago in another life I worked for the horse racing industry. Now that was an eye opener. It’s a horrible brutal industry. I now have nothing to do with anything associated with horse racing or the like, even the great Aussie tradition the Melbourne cup.
Like others have said, ethics change in relation to your environments. If times are lean and you need to put food on the table we all are human and can and will bend our own moral compasses to suit. That is reality.
I don’t hate or even despise the people working in these industries some have to do it to survive. I can personally understand that.
Hi,
Sorry,
but i have to strongly disagree.
Gambling has an long history of public rants against it. And the topic is highly emotional.
But if you would check the facts, than there is a pretty different view on that.
fact is, that only 0,42 percent of people could get addicted. that does not even mean they are.
done as a research by Harvard Medical School, on real data (not surveys).
that means much more people facing a risk of overweight (that actually can kill you) or alcohol abuse.
does that now mean, you would also refuse to work for a online pizza website?
That does not mean, that there are bad online gambling companies out there, that just tries to make quick money. but you have that in really many industries. and yes. it should be part of your inner values to refuse to work for these.
but then, please write about these values, and principles. and maybe how to detect them. instead of flaming against a industry, where you do not even have insights into.
and feel free to contact me, or chat with me about that. maybe we can remove some prejudices here.
Would you have a problem with this UX work, given it endorses violence? Think about it. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/5939/successful_playtesting_in_swords__.php