Moral Design — Journey Group

We must cultivate a sort of curiosity that isn’t afraid to be limited. Intimacy, but not blind devotion. Progress, but not hubris. Moral design conserves more than it disrupts. It is careful, not clever. It is cultural, not viral.

vernacular design, which I would define as functional design for ordinary people rooted in a local economy and culture.

A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.

— Attributed to Albert Einstein

Similarly, we might think of design method as a process for inquiry into the purposes, plans, and intentions behind what humans make and do.

designers ought to be the loudest and most insistent proponents for discovering new and better ways to produce goods and services

What is the purpose of what we’re setting out to make? Who is it for? What are they like? What is good for them? We shouldn’t just ask these questions to uncover strategic insights or check a box but to further our own accountability and growth—as individuals, and as a profession. How can we pursue moral design if we can’t compare our plans with ou... See more

The moral designer writes her intentions in permanent ink and returns to them often.

that matters are best handled by the smallest, lowest, and most decentralized competent authority.

only sustainable medium for morality is affection—and moreover, he introduces a language for affection that is informed, practical, and practiced.