The aim of this project was to explore and illustrate what ‘good’ right to object to use of personal data for direct marketing could look like.
To answer this question, we spent eight weeks carrying out research and design work to better understand:
- Today’s advertising system and future landscape changes.
- The needs of business stakeholders in the system.
- The needs of internet users in the system.
These learnings were crucial for:
- Prioritising the exploration of certain interventions over others.
- Iterating solutions with stakeholders, including internet users.
- Designing new touch points underpinned by a responsible advertising system (using IF’s Responsible Technology by Design methodology).
Nearly everything has ripples of impact beyond what might typically be considered a single ‘target’ user base. That’s why we take a systems-based approach at IF. Designing for, rather than ignoring, the complexity created by these multiple perspectives.
Today’s adtech system and future landscape changes
Given the advertising system’s opacity, we remained realistic about the extent to which we’d be able to accurately map out and analyse the current sociotechnical systems in place. However, we were able to gain ‘just enough’ understanding to map key stakeholders, map data flows and identify relevant regulation.
The needs of business-side stakeholders of the system
Desk research and interviews with various stakeholders of the current ecosystem (advertisers, publishers, advertising intermediaries) helped build a picture of the relationships, tensions and value exchanges that shape the current system. A key challenge was to understand what might incentivise different business stakeholders to enable (or directly provide) improved Right to Object touchpoints.
The needs of consumer-side stakeholders of the system
To better understand what a ‘good’ right to object would look like from the perspective of internet users, we carried out research to understand:
- the problem it’s trying to solve (ie the underlying intent of the law).
- how well that maps to people’s real-world needs, behaviours, pain points and attitudes: relating to direct marketing, data about them being processed for it, and objecting to it.
- to what extent the prescribed implementation is solving that problem.
- variations on the implementation that might better meet people’s needs.
Prioritising interventions that meet project goals
Research learnings allowed us to diagnose a variety of user and business needs that a ‘good’ Right to Object might address. We prioritised opportunities we deemed at least compatible with the current system and therefore achievable within a 1-2 year time horizon. We believe these smaller, lower-risk experiments will help catalyse the change needed for long-term success in shifting the system.
Iterating solutions with stakeholders, including internet users
Visual prompts are essential when exploring user sentiments towards complex, abstract concepts like data sharing. Having tangible illustrations also helped us probe the commercial viability of solutions with different business stakeholders.
Designing new touch points underpinned by an improved system (using IF’s Responsible Technology by Design methodology)
We used learnings from our initial landscaping and IF’s Responsible Technology by Design methodology to identify key principles to guide design: rights-enhancing, transparent, consentful and data minimising. Our research and design learnings culminated in four key moments that help bring to life the experience, policy, tech and organisational changes that would underpin an responsible advertising system.
We designed four moments that show how this new responsible advertising experience could come to life. They explore how data control can be simpler, more accessible and more effective - and implementable in under one year.
We’ve designed within the existing legal framework, but with an eye to the future and where legislation is going. Each moment is also based on one overarching assumption. No data is shared for the purpose of advertising until a user has meaningfully consented.
Each Moment is broken down into different parts. These show how technology, data, policy and organisational structure impact the user experience and the considerations that delivery teams will need think about as they deliver these new experiences.
We know these moments will need to be designed into organisation’s specific product and services. You can do that by trialling them. Here is how you can get started.