CEI (Consumer Ethics Index) – An App that gives you full transparency on all your consumer products.
Project information
Speculative Software · Future Scenario · Wicked Problem · Concept · UI/UX
Summer 2023
University Project for “Wicked Problems and Speculative Software” by Boris Müller
CEI – Final Product
The video below shows you how the CEI app works. Different products and features are presented. For more information about the course and the project, please scroll down.
Note: Due to a significant lack of transparency, estimates have been used for the values.
About this course
The term “Wicked Problems”, coined by Horst Rittel, describes tough and complex issues that don’t have clear solutions. These problems are tricky because they’re connected in complicated ways, making it hard to solve them without contradictions or gaps. We can’t completely solve “Wicked Problems”, but we can creatively approach them through design.
In this course, we followed this creative approach and mixed speculative design with user interface design. We made short videos showing prototypes of software interfaces that try to tackle a “Wicked Problem.”
What is the problem I picked?
The problem is that many of the products we buy everyday are made in ways that are not fair to people, animals, or the environment. It’s hard to know the truth due to misleading information and a lack of clear details. That’s why I created the CEI – to make things crystal clear.
At the core of this vision is the notion that, given access to a comprehensive array of information, we can strive towards achieving absolute transparency.
The Process
To arrive at this App concept, complex topics around unethical design were broken down extensively along with their connections.
Explored were typical methods such as dark patterns, behavior-based data, persuasive design, along with overarching issues explaining why solving the problem is not feasible.
Additionally, the focus was on tracing how the notions of ethics, unethical behavior, and gray areas develop, particularly concerning consumption. This involved unraveling what is considered ethical, unethical, or a gray area from a Western perspective, for the categories of hardware, software, and social media.
After forming the research and data collection into diagrams, the next step was to identify interesting points connected to the overarching theme. Following that, I engaged in brainstorming, and proceeded with developing the final concept of the CEI App.
Here you can see the diagrams around the topic of unethical design with its different connections.
The next step was to highlight the points of interest from the diagrams to develop an idea.
Followed by a quick brainstorming for some ideas based on the highlighted points.
Final Designs – The Overview
