The Role of Defaults in Ethical Product Design
By Maksym Bardakh · Co-founder & President
In short
Because most people leave defaults untouched, a default is a decision the designer makes for the majority of users. That gives defaults real ethical weight. Ethical defaults are set in the user’s interest, especially for privacy and anything hard to reverse, rather than tuned to extract value at the user’s expense. The honest test is whether the default would be chosen by an informed user acting in their own interest.
Defaults are decisions, not suggestions
A large majority of people never change a default setting. They accept whatever the product arrives configured to do, whether through trust, inertia, or simply not knowing the option exists. This means a default is not a neutral suggestion the user will evaluate; it is effectively the decision for most of them. Whoever sets the default is choosing on behalf of the people who will never touch it.
Recognizing this changes how defaults should be treated. They are not a convenience to be set wherever is easiest or most profitable, but a responsibility, because they determine the actual experience and exposure of the people who never look past them.
Set defaults in the user’s interest
The ethical position is that defaults should be set to what serves the user, particularly where the stakes are high. Privacy defaults should protect by default, collecting and sharing the least rather than the most, because the user who never changes the setting should not be the one most exposed. Defaults for anything hard to reverse should err toward caution. The aim is that the path of least resistance is also the path that respects the person.
- Default privacy settings to protect, collecting and sharing the least.
- Make the cautious choice the default for anything hard to undo.
- Ensure the easy path and the user-respecting path are the same path.
The test of an honest default
A useful check is to ask whether an informed user, understanding the option and acting in their own interest, would choose the default you have set. When the default aligns with that choice, it serves the user. When the default differs from what an informed user would pick, and especially when it differs in a way that benefits the product at the user’s expense, the default is being used to extract value from inattention.
Key takeaways
- Most people never change defaults, so a default is effectively the decision for them.
- Defaults carry ethical weight because they determine the experience of the inattentive majority.
- Set defaults in the user’s interest, especially for privacy and irreversible choices.
- Make the path of least resistance the same as the path that respects the person.
- Test a default by whether an informed user acting in their own interest would choose it.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do defaults carry ethical weight?
- Because most people never change them, a default is effectively the decision the designer makes for the majority, determining their actual experience and exposure.
- How should privacy defaults be set?
- To protect by default, collecting and sharing the least, so the user who never changes the setting is not the one left most exposed.
- What is the test of an honest default?
- Whether an informed user, understanding the option and acting in their own interest, would choose the default you have set.
References
About the author
Maksym Bardakh
Co-founder & President
Maksym is a software engineer and product strategist focused on executive-function and behavioral system design. At BBMM he leads product direction across Flowo, TextPack, and Pillow, working at the intersection of human cognition and durable interface design.