If you think all design is manipulation, please stop designing
I posted a question today which took off: when does design become manipulation? I have thoughts of my own, and I’m giving some short talks on it soon, but I wanted to survey the wider community’s opinion.
The most common response by far: all design is manipulation. I found this response surprising, let’s say, so I pressed for a few explanations. Mostly, people told me it’s a natural feature of design, but that’s ok because manipulation is an ethically neutral concept.
To which I say: bullshit.
Manipulation is bad. And unless you’re ethically trained and can argue convincingly about minor philosophical exceptions, I say you know full well it’s bad. If you manipulate someone, you use them as means to your own ends; you undermine their consent and ability to exercise free choice; you withhold your true intent. People would describe you as self-centred, controlling, and deceptive. If your spouse asked how work went today, would you feel proud to reply ‘Well, I manipulated a bunch of people’?
The negative ethical connotation is obvious and well-accepted in general parlance. So I don’t buy this neutrality excuse: it shows a blasé acceptance of harm that’s unbecoming of a professional, and I’m alarmed so many designers seem to believe it.
Design influences. It persuades. But if it manipulates, something’s wrong. The difference isn’t just semantic; it’s moral. A manipulative designer abuses their power and strips people of their agency, reducing them to mere pawns. I see almost no circumstances in which that’s ethically acceptable.
So if you think all design is manipulation, please stop designing.
