Design Principles

The ethical foundation of the developed concept.

01/06

Protect People from being judged

Human interaction and communication on the Internet should be designed to avoid biases and harassment and instead encourage tolerance. Building an environment where a person and what they accomplish is not judged directly, enables personal development but also implies more privacy.

02/06

Provide diverse Perspectives through Interconnectivity

A website usually only provides access to a limited range of information. Given the total amount of content on the Internet, a system for exploration should support accessing topic-related cross-platform information anytime to prevent the one-sided formation of opinions and encourage an inspirational navigation throughout the web.

03/06

Enable Users to set constraints

Topic-related filter bubbles can be useful in some cases. Users should be able to decide explicitly how »far away« the content they get recommended is from their original query. Providing the user with such tools also grants more transparency to the recommendation process.

04/06

Value the Users’ Time

To spend time on the Internet, can be seen as an investment. One should thus aim to provide fast navigation through recommendations by avoiding contextless links. Users should be able to grasp the essence of something, without having to fully consume it. Providers of content should prevent »Clickbaits«, intentional misinformation and misinterpretation to get consumer‘s attention.

05/06

Do not objectify subjective Opinions

Values and demands towards content and objects on the Internet differ greatly from person to person. Current rating scales (e.g. the five-star-system) abstract opinions, which are based on varying evaluation criteria, and try to calculate an average, that results in respectively little relevance for the single user.

06/06

Respect Creators and Receivers

Monopolies or platforms and influencers with wide reach should not receive special support or be valued more than small content providers. In reverse, however, this does not mean, that content creators should be limited in their work and creativity.