Ethics of Exigence

This document looks at ethics of technical writing through a different perspective by analyzing the ethics of design, which has not received a lot of attention in the past. Ethics of design and information should incorporate the actions and intentions of both authority figures and individuals. Ward argues that one must look at the ethic of exigence is essential to understanding information design. Ethic of exigence is the idea of incorporating social knowledge in ethical decisions. It says that objects, events, and interests should be mutually determined by both the designers and users of information. Ward says it is important to examine cultural, historical, and social issues surrounding any piece of information design.

This article uses the poster of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 to understand the importance of ethic of exigence through information design. The poster heavily depends on the cultural contexts of Germany at the time. The information is influenced by the fact that Germans were socialist and focused on a racially based community of class privilege. It also depended on the socialist outlook on technology. Both of these cultural aspects are important because the poster does not make any sense without keeping them in mind. The designers and the users depend on the cultural and historical contexts in order for the data to have meaning.

The color scheme also plays an important role in the interpretation of meaning for this poster. The black figures represent Jews, while the white figures represented Germans, and the gray were meant to represent hybrids. The colors are able to speak to the designers and users in order to reinforce what their community perceived as good or bad. Poster such as this depend on the idea that people are fearful on any discontinuity in society. They fear changed or “exceptions to norms” so they look to designers to instruct them of how to handle these exceptions. However, the data presented by information designers are able to transform attitudes for “exceptions” into new cultural norms, which explains how the Nuremberg Laws were able to convince the entire community to have a common hatred of Jews. This idea is encompassed in the term “Triangulation” which explains how designers can have the ability to convince users that their information is the truth and can change the sense of how they should regard their world.

The ethic of exigence hopes to engage the designers and users in a mutual conversation about potential threats to the community. The designer then attempts to create information that the user can use to figure out how to address the threat. They mutually produce a course of action as to how they can keep the norms in their society. Information design is meant to be a conversation in which information is translated into data that will allow humans to make sense of their realities. Ward discusses how ethics should come into this equation of how realtiy should be addressed. He says that ethical decisions should be made based on goal-based, duty-based, or rights-based decisions.

These four types of questions Ward suggestions designers to keep in mind: 1. Ethical substance: Which part of myself or my behavior is influenced or concerned with moral conduct? What do I do because I want to be ethical?

2. Mode of subjection: How am I being told to act morally? Who is ask-ing? To whose values am I being subjected?

3. Ethical work: How must I change my self or my actions in order to become ethical in this situation?

4. Ethical goal: Do I agree with this definition of morality? Do I consent to becoming this character in this situation? To what am I aspiring to when I behave ethically?