Towards Fostering Compliance by Design; Drawing Designers into the Regulatory Frame

Abstract

We are seeing the rise of a new type of socio-technical infrastructure. The systems with which we increasingly interact no longer exhibit the characteristics of the systems used even a decade ago. Today’s technologies have an ambient quality, are embedded in our most intimate spheres, are data-driven, and exhibit increasing agency in our lives. The quality of our interactional experiences therefore depends upon the quality and quantity of our data and, as such, data has become a recognised global asset. With this heightened economic interest has come a concurrent review of regulation in the sphere of data protection, as the law moves towards mandating privacy by design and by default. However, for this to become a reality requires not only more inclusive regulatory practices, but also the engagement of those responsible for the formation of such systems – designers and systems architects. This raises several questions, principal of which being how one might engage these communities within the emerging discourse. This paper begins to address such issues by exploring a recognised approach to fostering creative thought within design, that of ideation, and suggests a way by which such a methodology might begin the job of drawing designers into the regulatory frame.