Designing the Conditions for Equity – a human-centric approach to Ts&Cs

An invisible web of terms and conditions (Ts&Cs) govern our daily lives, from those imposed by our governments to the verbose contracts we sign off on to use everyday products and services. Despite the importance of these contracts to protect us and the companies that define them, they may not always seem transparent or fair when serving society or the needs of marginalized/vulnerable groups.

For example, when designing AI for the cosmetic industry, how might we avoid marginalizing people of color or diverse skin types? How can it be flexible to meet that demand and protect the business, but still feel accessible and collaborative with its customers to succeed? Could we eventually need to define a role for a designer of these policies?

Through our research, we discovered that defining the rules of our cultures or products can be a complex process and, at times, is relatively chaotic and political. It can be devoid of the stakeholder's and user's perspective – not to mention lacking in incorporating voices at the margins, ethical codes, or accountability for the rapidly changing social movements today.

We hypothesize that design thinking (including futures thinking and strategies) is uniquely equipped to offer a process and methodology which could lead to more transparent, inclusive, and equitable terms and conditions.

We have interviewed several experts, including lawmakers, foreign policy experts, product managers, futurists, and senior product leaders to understand their approaches and identify similarities and opportunities. During the conversations, we examined their process for gathering requirements, investigating issues, aligning multiple levels of regulations, and ultimately crafting the documents that bind our society and products together.

We discovered this process can be a complex and multi-tiered endeavor that requires stakeholder empathy and cross-functional collaboration, which are both core elements of design thinking. However, many organizations don't necessarily have an effective and scalable framework or formula in place to ensure that the most holistically beneficial policies get implemented.

Throughout our talk, our proposed framework and approach offers a methodology for how designers of the future can become involved in creating more equitable products and services by actively engaging in the T&C-making process. We hope to ignite a discussion that will better equip designers of today with the awareness, confidence, and a transparent process to design products and services considering marginalized voices and the evolving needs of society as it evolves over time.