//Tackling digital deceptive design
through design and policy interventions//
The Designer's Manual of Ethical Design Practice
We are engaged in developing a manual of responsible design principles for practitioners keeping users and their needs first.
Using our human-centered design approach, this project combines multidisciplinary research with insights gathered from a community of practitioners to create a manual of ethical UI/UX design principles which practitioners can use to tackle deceptive design practices.
Here's a manual leaf...
Think about the usual, run-off-the mill consent interface. It is designed to be an interruption in the larger UX flow. Imagine if you were prompted to create screens which made consent meaningful, active, and well, fun. Here's a leaf from our manual which helps you design!

A page from the manual for designers.
Manual Themes
What is Deceptive Design?
We explore the nature of 'dark patterns', the role of cognitive bias in design, and reported user harms. It seeks to center the designer's role in challenging deception, and moving towards responsible practice.
Building Trust through User Privacy and Data Protection
Tackling deception means creating online experiences where users' privacy is secure, and data is safe. This section invites designers to play with our fun activities to make consent and privacy fun, and meaningful for users, paving the way for better UX experiences.
Re-thinking the 'User'
Current ways of thinking of the 'user' especially while designing digital experiences are limited. By focussing on context, language, community, know-how, and other human-centered ways of designing can make us craft trusted and delightful digital experiences.
Will law
regulate design?
Where do policy and design meet? As deceptive design harms increase across countries, legislators are seeking to introduce laws which will soon regulate design practices. Keeping ahead of these trends helps you build trust with your consumers, and stay ahead of the curve.
Centering values in Design Practice
Is design..lost? Values are an integral part of the design process and practice, but what are these values? Why should we choose some values over others? Let's explore together using frameworks and design-thinking tools.
Beyond the Screen: Deception in Emerging Tech
Deceptive Design is not just a UI/UX problem. How can we think about deception in media other than screens? How can we design emerging technology in ways such that deception is not a challenge? What's the future of responsible design?