From the Author

Hi everyone!I decided to write this book after I learned of a story about a young girl dying in a hospital because the nurses caring for her were too distracted with badly design software. You can read the poston Medium. It hurt me deeply and as I looked around in other places I saw the need for design everywhere, not just to make things look nicer or even more pleasant to use. In stead I saw how bad design was hurting people in very real ways, every single day. Physical harm & death, emotional harm, exclusion, and injustice.I wrote this book to shine a light on these areas and call designers, and those who create products we use every day, to tackle this issue and define why we need design in badly needed areas in society. Will you join me?

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About the Author

Jonathan Shariat has been in design for over 10 years, and is currently the Director of Product for a small start-up in Silicon Valley. He is also co-host of the Design Review Podcast. He's written for publications such as Medium.com, most notably a #1 most recommended article “How bad UX Killed Jenny,” a story about a patient who died because the EHR UI distracted the nurses and caused a critical error. He's passionate about shedding light on the negative impact of bad design and an advocate for thoughtful, purposeful design.Passionate about human beings and their means of communication, Cynthia has always sought a deeper understanding of how people think, interact, connect. Communication has thus been a key ingredient in her technological endeavours. A Université de Montréal graduate in industrial design, she is now Director of Design at Shopify. On top of her daytime job, Cynthia mentors startups and is regularly invited to speak at events around the world, where her playful approach both startles and charms. In her conferences, she shares her passion and her point of view: user-centered design is a reality, not a utopian methodology.

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Bad design is everywhere, and its cost is much higher than we think. In this thought-provoking book, authors Jonathan Shariat and Cynthia Savard Saucier explain how poorly designed products can anger, sadden, exclude, and even kill people who use them. The designers responsible certainly didn’t intend harm, so what can you do to avoid making similar mistakes?Tragic Design examines real case studies that show how certain design choices adversely affected users, and includes in-depth interviews with authorities in the design industry. Pick up this book and learn how you can be an agent of change in the design community and at your company.You’ll explore:Designs that can kill, including the bad interface that doomed a young cancer patientDesigns that anger, through impolite technology and dark patternsHow design can inadvertently cause emotional painDesigns that exclude people through lack of accessibility, diversity, and justiceHow to advocate for ethical design when it isn’t easy to do soTools and techniques that can help you avoid harmful design decisionsInspiring professionals who use design to improve our world