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Book Review of Ruined by Design by Mike Monteiro

Ruined by Design is Mike Monteiro’s 3rd book. He’s the co-founder and design director of Mule Design. I first heard him speak at a company coffee hour, and this book is a continuation of that. In his book,

I liked these aspects:

  • relevant, researched examples of abuse by well-known companies like Facebook, Uber, Twitter
  • constant references to books and news articles suggestions
  • references to smart people, whom I’ve also quoted
  • easy to read, and pick up whenever in any chapter
  • empowering message
  • design, psychology, etc. references

but did not appreciate:

  • constant swearing (feels like lazy writing, albeit sometimes entertaining)

Here’s a list of my favorite quotes:

On p42 (re: privilege)

“born on third base and think they hit a triple.”

-Ann Richard

and on p45

“In 1971, American philosopher John Rawls proposed an idea for determining the ethics of a situation, he called it a veil of ignorance. […] In short, a veil of ignorance is a way of determining whether what you’re designing, be it a startup, a dinner party, or a system of government, is just. It’s very simple: when designing something, imagine that your relationship to the system gets determined after you’ve made it. For example, if you’re designing a system of government that allows slavery, you might end up being enslaved. If you’re designing a ride-sharing service, you might end up as the driver or the rider.”

and on p60

“Never underestimate the value of spending your own money. You’re less inclined to waste it.”

and on p61

“We need to value the consequences of our actions more than the cleverness of our ideas.”

and on p62

“It takes knowing what questions to ask. It takes knowing how to test the effects of the product. It takes knowing how to build a good argument. And it takes seeing yourself as an equal stakeholder in the product. It takes seeing yourself as the gatekeeper.

and on p66

“The trick to not being stressed out about getting fired is to expect it every day. Work toward it. Be willing to say the thing that might get you fired, because if you’re not, then you’re holding back. Otherwise, you’re giving the answer you think people want to hear, or the answer that you think saves your skin. That’s not the job. Your job is to design things the right way, the ethical way, even if it gets you fired.”

and on p72 (re: importance of diverse viewpoints esp. in hiring)

“You will design things that fit within your own experiences.”

and on p74

“Why teach people to think outside the box when you can hire people outside the box.”

-Tea Uglow (Google Sydney)

and on p74

“The last thing I want you to do is take your team of white boys out i the field and “see what the women think.” Turns out women like to work. Turns out they’ve been dying to work in this field. Turns out they’re willing to work in this field, even when it means putting up with all the bullshit men like me have thrown at them on a daily basis and then being paid seventy cents on the dollar.”

and on p76

“A few years ago I was on a panel for MICWIC (Michigan Women in Computing), and the thing that struck me is how almost every single woman who spoke felt compelled to state that they “didn’t hate men,” as a measure of self protection, or say something that in some way excused behavior (it was the times, etc.).

And some of these people were saying that they stayed in tech and engineering DESPITE feeling like they were unwanted the whole time, but that in some cases, they would never ask their other, bright, amazing female colleagues to come work with them, because they knew it was asking a lot…”

-Ani King (editor of Syntax & Salt magazine)

and on p77

“If you are white in a white supremacist society, you are racist. If you are male in a patriarchy, you are sexist.”

-Ijeoma Oluo in So You Want To Talk About Race

and on p77

“Regardless of how well you’ve lived your life, regardless of how good your intentions were, you’ve benefitted from a stacked deck.”

and on p78

unconscious bias - “it’s all the little things we do, almost without thinking, that undermine the people around us who don’t look like us. The classic example being when we ask the only woman in the meeting to take notes.”

and on p79

“Everyone earned the right to be heard at work when you hired them, and not only do they have the right to be heard, you’re an idiot for not listening to what they have to say!”

and on p79

“If you’re a dude, you have a responsibility to tell your male co-workers to shut the fuck up when they interrupt someone. Be a role model. I don’t mean, “I think what Rebecca was saying was-” I mean you should say, “You interrupted Maria. I want to hear her finish.” Not because I think Maria needs saving, but because it’s important for the other guys in the room to see that this is no longer tolerated by their own.”

and on p80

“You know how much stuff you have to do on a regular day? Imagine your hardest day of work, on deadline, tons of shit to do, barely keeping on top of it. Now, imagine you have to do all of that, along with monitoring the shit your coworkers are saying about you - the looks they’re giving you - the little jabs here and there - not being allowed to finish your sentences - having someone take credit for your ideas. You couldn’t do it, so stop putting that kind of burden on others.”

and on p80 (re: women-friendly job descriptions)

“Their (women) suggestions were to write the job description so that it emphasized the work they’d be doing; to talk about the people they’d be working with, the community they’d be joining, and why that work was important to be doing. They suggested talking about how this hire would be complementing an already great team. They suggested emphasizing the company’s goals rather than individual achievement, and how rather than saying things like “you need 5 years experience doing x,” you’re better off with “be ready to discuss how your previous experiences can help us do x.”

and on p81

“It’s done by teams who know how to work together, to look at a problem from multiple points of view and a diverse set of experiences.”

and on p81

“But let’s face it - I was also virtue signaling.”

Virtue signaling is the action or practice of publicly expressing opinions or sentiments intended to demonstrate one’s good character or the moral correctness of one’s position on a particular issue.

and on p82

“The people affected by our actions are always more important than our intent.”

and on p83

“You put people from different backgrounds together, and they can see things from multiple points of view. They cover each others’ blind spots. It’s the smart move.”

and on p83

“So rather than asking me for data (diversity inclusion), let me ask you why you’re okay excluding people who don’t look like you. Better yet, ask yourself that every day. That’s how we get better.”

and on p90

“Start asking questions about what you’re building. Start asking questions about who benefits from what you’re building.”

and on p91

“Just because the person next to you might be an asshole, it’s not a good excuse for you to be one.”

and on p97

“There’s no ethical way to design a gun because to design it well is to design it to kill better. We cannot do that.”

and on p99

“Find a place with good leadership. Find a place that wants to listen to what you have to say. Find a place filled with people you want to collaborate with you, and people you’re willing to collaborate with. If you’re reading this and you run a company? Running that kind of place should be your goal.”

and on p100

“Just be honest with yourself about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and for how long you’re going to do it. Because once you lose sight of that, the justifications start.”

and on p103

Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey - a pharmacologist and physician that reviewed and tested new drugs before they enter the US market. Prevented the release of thalidomide, a painkiller targeted at pregnant woman for morning sickness, but showed side effects of mothers who gave birth to deformed infants.

and on p128

“The data we collect from users should be the absolute bare minimum in order to do the thing we are telling them is happening. The thing we are telling them is happening needs to be what’s actually happening.”

and on p129

“An industry that can’t keep your data safe cannot have more of it.”

and on p129

“If you honestly have a real reason that you need to know someone’s gender, just live it an open field. People are gloriously complex. As a designer, I’m not going to trade someone’s happiness for a dataset that’s easier to sort.”

and on p138

“There’s a concept called an Overton window, which describes what we’re willing to discuss or tolerate over time - or as the window opens or closes. What was once unthinkable (window closed) such as putting children in cages or constant surveillance of a president breaking with standards of decorum, slowly becomes policy (window open) as we get used to new behavior.”

and on p143

“If you’ve hired me to do good work, I owe it to you and more importantly, the people that work is going to affect to do good work. I also need to tell you why the work is good, to walk you through all its aspects, and to explain to you how I reached the conclusion that the work is good. My confidence in the work then passes from me to you and puts that work one step closer to helping the people it’s intended to help. My confidence isn’t for my benefit or even my boss’s benefit, it’s for the people’s benefit. When we see them as the reason for our confidence, then humility isn’t just expensive, it’s also selfish. How dare you allow your fear to keep people from being helped.”

and on p147

“There’s a metaphor in journalism called the inverted pyramid. In short, you give the most important information at the very beginning, increase the details as, or if, the reader continues the article, and then finish up with relevant background. If you’re ever read the headline to a story and decided you already knew everything you wanted to know, now you know why.”

and on p147

“Persuading people means building alliances. You’re gonna need people in your corner. […] People are easy. They basically all want the same thing. They want to be listened to and respected.”

and on p147

“sometimes an alliance is as simple as acknowledging someone else’s work and value, and making sure others are noticing it, too.” -Dan Ryan (head of tech at Ragtag)

and on p

“What’s the most confident statement that can come out of your mouth?”

“I don’t know” […]

Also, you need to follow that up with something like, “I’m excited to find out” or, “Give me until the end of the day/week to look into it,” and make sure that you do.”

and on p158

“A friend of mine once told me that it’s harder to stay and advocate for doing the right thing than to quit. I agree, as long as there’s still a chance that advocacy is working.”

and on p173

“When the reason for community changes from “keeping those inside safe” to “keeping those outside, out” we lose perspective. We stagnate, and we stop introducing new ideas.”

and on p176

“If you walk out of your job in protest, you have a problem. If you can talk your entire department into walking out with you, then your company has a problem.”

and on p194

“Licensing and regulation rarely eliminate a problem, but they do minimize it, and add accountability to the equation.”

Finally, here’s a list of recommended readings that I also want to check out or re-read:

Published 21 Jan 2020