# Design Ethics

> Apply ethical design practices that respect user autonomy, privacy, attention, and well-being — and avoid dark patterns. Use when reviewing growth tactics, consent flows, persuasive design, or potentially manipulative interface patterns.

- Skill: `itsual/design-ethics` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add itsual/design-ethics`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/itsual/design-ethics/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: itsual (https://skillmd.com/u/itsual)
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/itsual/design-ethics

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# Design Ethics

## Overview

Design influences behavior. Ethical design seeks beneficial outcomes without deception, coercion, or exploitation of cognitive biases in ways that harm users.

## When to Use

- Designing consent, privacy, and permission flows
- Reviewing growth, retention, or monetization patterns
- Evaluating potentially deceptive UI (dark patterns)
- Setting team standards for responsible design

## Core Concerns

- Transparency and informed consent
- Avoiding dark patterns (forced continuity, hidden costs, trick questions, etc.)
- Attention and addictive design patterns
- Inclusive and non-discriminatory experiences
- Privacy by design in interface choices
- Honest defaults and easy opt-out

## Principles

- Respect user agency — make it as easy to decline as to accept when appropriate
- Short-term conversion gains from deception create long-term trust debt
- Ethics review is part of quality, not only legal compliance
- Document decisions when trade-offs are genuinely hard

## Verification

- [ ] Consent and cancellation paths are clear and fair
- [ ] No intentional deception in critical choices
- [ ] Team can explain how the design respects user interests