What comes to mind when you hear the term “hostile design”?

Perhaps you know the most commonly used example of hostile design, which is when public benches are designed with spikes or other such features meant to specifically deter the unhoused population from sleeping on them.

Or, perhaps you’ve never heard the term before; hostile design is not a concept generally covered in traditional ethics classes. It refers to “the practice of designing things in public spaces to deter certain kinds of behavior.” Can designing against a user like this be ethical in any situation? In Episode 06 of To Be Designed, co-hosts Mary Shirk and Nico Petry-Mitchel chat about this question and more in relation to the concept of “hostile design.”

This episode was produced by Quynh-Nhi Tran and co-hosted by Mary Shirk and Nico Petry-Mitchel. Editing by Sriman Narayanan and Carolyn Hagler. Sound engineering by Mary Shirk. Marketing by Leah Parsons. Music by Drew McComas. Special thanks to Pam Daniels, Mark Schumacher, and Casey Russell. To Be Designed is sponsored by the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern University.