[arg_discuss] Topic of the Week July 20: Designer Responsibilities to the Public

[D B Wall]

I'm curious this group's reaction to a simple thought... as icons associated with certain connected/web2.0/social media/whatever you choose to call it efforts have become conventions in UI design over the past few years, I wonder if a simple, universal icon representing fictional realities on public facing materials could be established with similar effect. Twitter, Facebook, RSS, digg, even USB, and the power on button have effective, well-adopted and unobtrusive icons. Why can't ARGs?
 
 
On Monday, July 20, 2009, at 10:10AM, "Andrea Phillips" <andrhia at gmail.com> wrote:

>This isn't on the list of upcoming topics on the wiki, but this was

>something that I found myself blathering about a lot at ARGfest this

>weekend. I thought I'd bring it to the list.

>

>We've talked about our responsibilities and ethical guidelines on the

>list before, mainly in terms of what we owe the players. But we're

>putting material out there in the real world, and it's possible --

>even likely -- that somebody who isn't a player, doesn't know anything

>about ARGs, and has no reason to doubt your credibility will stumble

>into a piece of your game and think it's real.

>

>One example: In Routes, we made up a couple of fictional websites for

>pharmaceutical companies, and we did a little nail-biting over what

>'advanced treatments' we had this company working on. Could we talk

>about our fictional success with gene therapy to treat Parkinson's?

>What if a person with Parkinson's came upon our site via Google and

>thought it was real? We decided there was an ethical problem there.

>

>There are other examples that spring to mind, too -- most notably

>innocent bystanders who might witness something terrifying and call

>the police that turns out to be a live event for a game.

>

>So how do you manage these risks? What do you consider your

>responsibilities to the public at large?

>

>-- 

>Andrea Phillips

>http://www.aaphillips.com

>AIM: Andrh1a * Skype: Andrhia

>Words * Culture * Interaction

>_______________________________________________

>ARG_Discuss mailing list

>ARG_Discuss at igda.org

>http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/arg_discuss

>

>