Algorithms don’t always handle “edge cases” well, and the people who design them can have too broad a definition of edge case—stillbirths, miscarriages, and other life tragedies are actually relatively common.

So how do the people who are responsible for building things, often many many people for any given human experience, design for the possibility of unexpected outcomes?  That is to say, for real life? 

This week on the podcast, Erin and JH talked to Laura Klein about building products that consider user's real life situations more thoughtfully. Sometimes, big tech does things that actually end up emotionally harming users. How do we do better?

Highlights

[3:50] We ask the big question. Why do bad things happen?

[6:56] The hippocratic oath for researchers.

[11:15] The consequences of short-term thinking.

[12:41] Everyone makes mistakes, and we can learn from everyone else’s mistakes too. 

[18:56] Is the designer morally responsible for the actions of the product?

[24:43] How do you make a difference as an individual?

[33:25] The difficulty of separating yourself from some of the big companies

[36:32] We’re all gonna die, how does tech deal with that? (hint, not well) 

[40:21] We wrap up. Laura’s not mad, she’s just disappointed.

Laura Klein is the Principal at Users Know and the author of UX for Lean Startups and Build Better Products. She hosted her own popular UX podcast with Kate Rutter, What is Wrong with UX?, which goes best with cocktails.