Systems of Harm
summary
Design systems promise efficiency, consistency and scale but carry no inherent value and can industrialize discrimination when biased choices propagate. Concrete failures include Facebook’s Year In Review resurfacing bereavement, a 2020 study finding 5 of 6 speech‑recognition systems favor white voices, and forms that break for double‑barrelled names or people with discalculia (~1 in 20 UK adults). Mitigation requires start with teams, center stress cases, embrace complexity and accept slower, more deliberate change.
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chapters (25)
- 0:00Introduction and welcome
- 1:12What are design systems?
- 3:04Design systems aren't inherently valuable
- 5:21Design systems can cause harm
- 6:55Introducing the Systems of Harm podcast
- 7:39Three principles for inclusive design systems
- 8:02Start with inclusive teams
- 10:16Bias in design systems teams
- 13:13Retrofitting inclusion is not enough
- 14:42Explicit vs tacit knowledge
- 15:48Lived experience matters
- 17:21Design systems and racism
- 19:16Inclusive teams build inclusive products
- 20:02Center stress cases
- 21:12Example of stress cases
- 23:12Stress cases and numerical literacy
- 25:35Why centering stress cases matters
- 25:57Embrace complexity
- 27:29Gender identity in forms
- 29:24Names and validation rules
- 32:13Exclusion erases people
- 32:58Inclusive design slows you down
- 34:04Human impact over mechanics
- 34:26Summary and call to action
- 34:48Q&A with Vitaly Friedman
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