Ruined by Design
Expressive
Inspirational
Intense

Ruined by Design How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It

Mike Monteiro2019
The world is working exactly as designed. The combustion engine which is destroying our planet's atmosphere and rapidly making it inhospitable is working exactly as we designed it. Guns, which lead to so much death, work exactly as they're designed to work. And every time we "improve" their design, they get better at killing. Facebook's privacy settings, which have outed gay teens to their conservative parents, are working exactly as designed. Their "real names" initiative, which makes it easier for stalkers to re-find their victims, is working exactly as designed. Twitter's toxicity and lack of civil discourse is working exactly as it's designed to work.The world is working exactly as designed. And it's not working very well. Which means we need to do a better job of designing it. Design is a craft with an amazing amount of power. The power to choose. The power to influence. As designers, we need to see ourselves as gatekeepers of what we are bringing into the world, and what we choose not to bring into the world. Design is a craft with responsibility. The responsibility to help create a better world for all. Design is also a craft with a lot of blood on its hands. Every cigarette ad is on us. Every gun is on us. Every ballot that a voter cannot understand is on us. Every time social network's interface allows a stalker to find their victim, that's on us. The monsters we unleash into the world will carry your name. This book will make you see that design is a political act. What we choose to design is a political act. Who we choose to work for is a political act. Who we choose to work with is a political act. And, most importantly, the people we've excluded from these decisions is the biggest (and stupidest) political act we've made as a society.If you're a designer, this book might make you angry. It should make you angry. But it will also give you the tools you need to make better decisions. You will learn how to evaluate the potential benefits and harm of what you're working on. You'll learn how to present your concerns. You'll learn the importance of building and working with diverse teams who can approach problems from multiple points-of-view. You'll learn how to make a case using data and good storytelling. You'll learn to say NO in a way that'll make people listen. But mostly, this book will fill you with the confidence to do the job the way you always wanted to be able to do it. This book will help you understand your responsibilities.
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Reviews

Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox
5 stars
Feb 19, 2025

Monteiro’s ethical call to designers should be a mandatory read for everyone building for the web, forcing them to carefully evaluate the consequences of their complacency.

+4
Photo of Lewis Ngugi
Lewis Ngugi@ngeshlew
5 stars
Feb 29, 2024

We need to set standards In my virtual book club, the lead started us out with this book. My, it a powerful! Also another designer friend kept mentioning in his talk and I now see what the two of them meant and stand for. Love it! Can't wait for the Association 🙌

Photo of Jesper van Haaren
Jesper van Haaren@jesper
3 stars
Jul 17, 2022

Although the book does strike some very valid points about design ethics, it sometimes felt repetitive and a bit like a rant. It’s also very US focused. Some very good points nonetheless.

Photo of Josh Clement
Josh Clement@joshclement
3 stars
Mar 16, 2022

I’m surprised I bought this, considering I’d long “unsubscribed” from Mikes tweets. His message is important, and worth the quick read.

Photo of Lucas Coelho
Lucas Coelho@coelholucas
5 stars
Sep 20, 2021

Around 2015 I received the best piece or advice from a mentor when I was in some sort of existential crisis. She looked at me and said: “Lucas, you have a job to do. Do your fucking job!”. This book, for me, is a longer version of that advice. Thanks Mike from asking designers to stand up and do our fucking jobs, and also, to helping us figure out how to do deliver great work.

Photo of Luke Jones
Luke Jones@lukejones
4 stars
Sep 17, 2021

It was hard not to compare this to Future Ethics. Where Cennydd Bowles tries to be objective, Mike Monteiro brings a strong opinion and ways to act – I respect the heck out of this book for that. This is a must read for every designer. If you read it and think 'oh we're not that bad', then you're the problem.

Photo of Rob Brogan
Rob Brogan@rob
5 stars
Sep 14, 2021

DESIGNER? READ THIS! DEVELOPER? READ THIS! Marketing, product, business person etc in the tech industry... read this please :)

Photo of Khatliyn
Khatliyn@army_reader7
3 stars
Feb 4, 2025
Photo of Calin
Calin@calin
5 stars
Oct 11, 2023
Photo of Henning
Henning@hnnngb
4.5 stars
May 17, 2023
+3
Photo of Andre
Andre@theinflatablekayak
4 stars
Jan 14, 2023
+1
Photo of David Gallardo
David Gallardo@davidg
4 stars
Aug 24, 2022
Photo of Julya Buhain
Julya Buhain@julya
5 stars
Apr 14, 2022
Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori
4.5 stars
Feb 11, 2022
Photo of Joe Woods
Joe Woods@woods
5 stars
Dec 4, 2021
Photo of Pratik M
Pratik M@pcmhatre
4 stars
Jun 26, 2024
Photo of Anh Nguyen
Anh Nguyen@anhs
3 stars
May 1, 2024
Photo of Niels Andersen
Niels Andersen@nielsandersen
4 stars
Apr 30, 2024
Photo of Luis Cielak
Luis Cielak@fstraat
5 stars
Apr 12, 2024
Photo of Ben S
Ben S@beseku
4 stars
Apr 4, 2024
Photo of George Penston
George Penston@gpenston
4 stars
Apr 3, 2024
Photo of Leo Vogel
Leo Vogel@leovogel
3 stars
Feb 25, 2024
Photo of Guilherme Simoes
Guilherme Simoes@guilhermesimoes
4 stars
Dec 28, 2023
Photo of Lizelle G
Lizelle G@lizelle
4 stars
Dec 28, 2023

Highlights

Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox

Yes, design is political. Because design is labor, and your labor is political. Where you choose to expend your labor is a political act. Who you choose to expend it for is a political act. Who we omit from those solutions is a political act. Finally, how we choose to leverage our collective power is the biggest political act we can take.

Page 209
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Karolina@fox

Good work cannot be done in situations where the work is to hurt people, deceive them, or manipulate them.

Page 97
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox

Design is not about expressing yourself. Design is not about following your dream. Design is not about becoming a creative. Design is about keeping people from doing terrible things to other people.

Page 63
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox

The boy kings of Silicon Valley love a good algorithm-they've designed some great ones over the years. But there are problems even the best math can't solve. There are times when you physically have to walk over to a server and pull the plug. I get why they want an algorithm to do it-lack of accountability. Intentionally pulling the plug on someone who's trolling women on your service is a decision. It requires agency, leadership, and a point of view. different matter.

Page 34
Photo of Karolina
Karolina@fox

lf it’s impossible to eliminate the negative impact of the work, it's your job to stop it from seeing the light of day. In other words, we're not hired to just dig a ditch, but to evaluate the economic, sociological, and ecological impact of that ditch. If the ditch fails those tests, it’s our job to destroy the shovels.

Page 20
Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

We confuse solving design problems with personal expression.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

A professional designer brings to the act of making products is intention, so behave intentionally. We are the gatekeepers of crap.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

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

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

Diversity in a team is important because they cover each others blind spots.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

You can justify anything if you try hard enough. Or just want to.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

You were not hired to green light someone else’s work without a second thought. You were also not hired to get someone’s approval.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

You work for the people who will ultimately come in contact with your work. You work for the people who aren’t in the room. The success we crave isn’t our own, it’s the success of the people we work for. The ones on the ground. We want the work we do be successful for them. That’s the job.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

When people’s main driver is financial, that means the health of the people using the product and the products effects on society are by definition secondary.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

Fear of doing research is always about ego and fear, which is a horrible combination.

Photo of Fabian
Fabian@fabians

It’s our sole duty to make sure our work is well thought out, beneficial, and as free from error as possible once it’s in their hands. Even then, we owe them vigilance.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

We’re late to the party. The world is working exactly as we designed it to work, and that’s the problem. We’re here because we’ve abdicated our responsibility as gatekeepers. We’re here because we forgot how much strength we have. It’s time to remember. Wake up and fight.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

As long as you are a designer, you have a responsibility to make the world better for the rest of humanity. If you are a designer, you are a human being first. It is your job to stop those that would denigrate humanity for their own selfish benefit. We are the gatekeepers.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

The important work won’t get done at the pixel level. A pixel is just a point of proof in the stage of execution. It’s the period at the end of the sentence. That sentence though? That’s the important thing. To design is to influence people. To design is to build new connections in people’s minds. To design is to build relationships where there previously weren’t any.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

If left unchecked, today’s monsters become tomorrow’s objects of comfort.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

I include first name, last name, address, gender, city, state, email address, etc. Then I tell the interviewee that we’re designing a form to sign up for an email newsletter and to arrange them in the right order. Only people who ask me why I need the users’ gender, or physical address, or really, anything but their email address get a second interview. I won’t hire a designer who doesn’t ask why, and I won’t hire a designer whose desire to arrange boxes is more important than their desire to protect users’ data.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

Perhaps, just perhaps, the point of life is to earn the death that comes at the end. And perhaps, no — most likely, that death is best earned by doing everything we can for those coming up after us. Earn your death by making room for the generation behind you. Might they fuck it up as well? Of course. But you already have. They still have a chance.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

There’s no quicker way to destroy someone’s confidence than teaching them that what they’re saying isn’t as important as what you’re saying.

Photo of Tobias Möritz
Tobias Möritz@tobimori

The work you bring into the world is your legacy. It will outlive you. It will speak for you. What do you want it to say?