Dark Side of Design
by Joe Fletcher
Dystopian futures, current trends, and outlying elements for designers. Each week opens up discussions on difficult, uncomfortable, and emerging topics for those in the user experience industry. Produced by Raft, a design and strategy consulting firm.
Episodes
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S02 Episode 3 - Digital governance is only anarchy
New regulations in the EU, US, and Asia are showing that historic methods of governance, based on physical land borders, are proving ineffective and inefficient in the digital world. The future of global digital domination looks to create a homogenous society where identity and culture is lost....
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S02 Episode 2 - All my friends are still dead
Continuing from Season 1, this episode dives deeper into asking the question “if all my friends are digital, do they need to be real”. With the rise of bots and AI, can we fulfill our basic human needs of social contact through digital means? What does it mean if we create bots in our own image...
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S02 Episode 1 - Nosedive is real
Changing our behavior and striving for positive reviews is becoming a normal way of life. As more companies implement ratings systems life is becoming one constant prisoner's dilemma. The impact of this could range from companies deciding what “ideal” is on a global scale, to creating a…
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Episode 6 - You're always being rated
Starting from replica.ai, guests Bessy Kim, long time Lets Fix Things host Guus Baggermans, and Joe Fletcher discuss the idea that if a person has more digital touchpoints than physical with friends, do they need real friends at all. They look at what “real” may mean looking forward and if there…
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Episode 5 - You're always being rated
Digital ratings systems, such as star ratings at Amazon or Airbnb, are meant to inspire and build trust. But what happens when rating systems are used to control behavior. Worse, what happens when ratings against individuals are not about the individuals themselves, but the experiences around…
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Episode 4 - The authoritarian blockchain
Blockchain has been proclaimed as market changing technology. A public method to track transactions and exchanges. But what if Blockchain is used in nefarious ways? As opposed to providing freedom through clarity, it can install authoritarian rule through tracking? In this weeks discussion we…
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Episode 3 - #yodo
Note, if the topic of death of suicide is difficult, this might be an episode to skip. Perhaps we've been asking the question wrong - it's not what happens when you die, but rather what is left of you after you die. As people strive to live forever in some form, the idea of who we are in death…
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Episode 2 - When designers decide mortality – from trolley and cars
If designers are still asking for a seat at the table, no seat is more important than that of a person who decides life and death situations. With the rise of self-driving cars, the inevitable decision of who lives and dies will eventually need to be designed. This week we look at the…
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Episode 1 - Designing for personal digital security
The first full episode opens the discussion on what digital security means for designers and why it's important. Security of digital systems has long been the responsibility of developers and engineers. But now that digital security is a day-to-day topic for consumers, how do things need to…
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Episode 0 - Welcome to the Dark Side of Design
A short introduction to the new philosophical, dystopian, and reflective podcast from Raft
About this show
Dystopian futures, current trends, and outlying elements for designers. Each week opens up discussions on difficult, uncomfortable, and emerging topics for those in the user experience industry. Produced by Raft, a design and strategy consulting firm.
Hosted by
Joe Fletcher