Sharon LindbergTeaching assistant
About me
I am a teacher and researcher in human-computer interaction and am particularly interested in design ethics in practice. Before starting my academic career, I worked for over 20 years with digital design (UX and service design as well as frontend development), which has given me a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities that exist in design work - both regarding ethics and otherwise.
Teaching
I teach human-computer interaction (HCI), focusing on design and ethics.
My teaching is inspired by studio pedagogy, virtue ethics, and feminism. Drawing from my extensive experience as a designer in industry where I was working collaboratively in cross-functional teams and with clients and users, I like to engage students in collaborative projects in order to learn together. I try to lead by example and provide examples from my own work experience. I consider it top priority that all my classes should be fun, reflective, and inclusive.
Research
Recent years have seen an increased interest in ethically responsible design, e.g. questions surrounding surveillance and big data, dangers related to AI and ethics, negative impact of social media, and “dark patterns” in design. Frameworks, guidelines and a plethora of other initiatives have been proposed for handling these issues. However, few studies have enquired into how ethics is perceived and cultivated among designers of technology. This is why my PhD project is doing just that: exploring ethics in design practices.
The goal of the research is two-fold. First, to understand what “design ethics” might mean to designers of tech. Second, to co-create viable ways of cultivating ethical design practices. My research is embedded in a stance on design ethics as something that needs to be co-constructed and continuously negotiated in reflective practice.
More about my research can be found at https://people.dsv.su.se/~sharon/
Whether you are a researcher interested in discussing my work or working on a study with me, a student who wants to chat about design ethics or a practitioner wanting to particpate somehow – please drop me a line at sharon@dsv.su.se.
