Design for Safety

A Book Apart #37

by Eva PenzeyMoog

“How will our product hurt people?” As web workers, we don’t often ask this question—but we should. Too often, we design for idealized circumstances, even though our users bring a range of complicated personal dynamics to every interaction. When we fail to explicitly design for vulnerable users, we unintentionally prioritize their abusers.

Eva PenzeyMoog explains how even the most well-intentioned design can be weaponized for interpersonal harm. Through poignant, all-too-common examples, Eva demonstrates how to identify a design’s potential for abuse, how to avoid and mitigate the damage, and how to bake safety into every step of the design process. We can’t build good digital products unless we recognize that our users’ safety, and lives, are at stake.

Genres: Design, Nonfiction, Technology, Professional Development

143 pages, Paperback

Published August 3, 2021

Reviews

[K. Kesington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Design for Safety is a really important book for anyone who works in the technology field. The "safety" the book focuses on is domestic violence. Not all malicious users are hackers and trolls, so safety needs to be built into our apps and gadgets to prevent them from harming those who are in danger from people inside their lives and even their homes.

This book is not just for designers, though some of the more detailed solutions are design specific. It most importantly gets readers to think about the worst case scenarios for that product or feature we are building, because as PenzeyMoog reminds us, if it can be abused to hurt people, it will be. As a software engineer I feel more empowered to support any designer fighting to implement some of the design processes mentioned in the book or even be the person advocating for those processes. I am also happy the book devotes time talking about the larger structural changes that are needed to help make safety a priority for the industry.

I think this book should be required reading for anyone in tech, studying tech, or just thinking really hard about tech.

[Rebecca Evanhoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MUST-READ. Excellent book for anyone in the tech industry, whether you're a designer, a developer, a product manager, or other leadership role. Provides an argument for WHY we need to consider safety of vulnerable people, and gives methods for how teams can spend more time designing safer products, plus researching and interviewing ethically. So much information and action in such a slim, quick book.

[Nicholas Kruger · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent primer to ethical design in technology. A lot of actionable advice packed into a small book, and I'd consider it required reading for today's tech teams.

The major lens here is technology being harnessed to further domestic abuse. While other forms of abuse are mentioned throughout the book, it would benefit from a chapter diving more into other scenarios, such as algorithimic bias, brigading, and misinformation campaigns.

[Eszter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for everyone working in tech. This book explains carefully on how to design for and with people who are vulnerable.

The examples given were eye-opening. For example, smart home devices that are misused like flickering the lights, controlling the temperature at someone's elses home without the affected person noticing. The book shows on how to find out whether the product you are designing may be prone to misusage and how to design it safer.

[Maria Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential reading for anyone in design or tech. The author lays out the landscape clearly and provides clear and implementable steps we can all take to ensure that what we build isn’t used for harm.

[Shawna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. A little hard to read if you've experienced any kind of abuse, but that's to be expected.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must-read for anyone in technology!

[Mathias Bøe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and fun resource, easy to read and important information.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essential read for all designers (new and experienced) to be aware of the many ways their design can be used for abuse.

Suggestion: Would love to see more solution ideas and approaches.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how practical and applicable this book is! I’ve used the process a few times that lead to valuable safety improvements.