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Mike Monteiro

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Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It Paperback – March 29, 2019

by Mike Monteiro (Author)

784 ratings

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The world is working exactly as designed. The combustion engine which is destroying our planet’s atmosphere and rapidly making it inhospitable is working exactly as we designed it. Guns, which lead to so much death, work exactly as they’re designed to work. And every time we “improve” their design, they get better at killing. Facebook’s privacy settings, which have outed gay teens to their conservative parents, are working exactly as designed. Their “real names” initiative, which makes it easier for stalkers to re-find their victims, is working exactly as designed. Twitter’s toxicity and lack of civil discourse is working exactly as it’s designed to work.The world is working exactly as designed. And it’s not working very well. Which means we need to do a better job of designing it. Design is a craft with an amazing amount of power. The power to choose. The power to influence. As designers, we need to see ourselves as gatekeepers of what we are bringing into the world, and what we choose not to bring into the world. Design is a craft with responsibility. The responsibility to help create a better world for all. Design is also a craft with a lot of blood on its hands. Every cigarette ad is on us. Every gun is on us. Every ballot that a voter cannot understand is on us. Every time social network’s interface allows a stalker to find their victim, that’s on us. The monsters we unleash into the world will carry your name. This book will make you see that design is a political act. What we choose to design is a political act. Who we choose to work for is a political act. Who we choose to work with is a political act. And, most importantly, the people we’ve excluded from these decisions is the biggest (and stupidest) political act we’ve made as a society.If you’re a designer, this book might make you angry. It should make you angry. But it will also give you the tools you need to make better decisions. You will learn how to evaluate the potential benefits and harm of what you’re working on. You’ll learn how to present your concerns. You’ll learn the importance of building and working with diverse teams who can approach problems from multiple points-of-view. You’ll learn how to make a case using data and good storytelling. You’ll learn to say NO in a way that’ll make people listen. But mostly, this book will fill you with the confidence to do the job the way you always wanted to be able to do it. This book will help you understand your responsibilities.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Independently published (March 29, 2019)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 221 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1090532083
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1090532084
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.56 x 9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #905,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #74 in Design History & Criticism
- #75 in Labor & Industrial Relations (Books)
- #104 in Labor & Industrial Economic Relations (Books)

Customer Reviews:
784 ratings

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Mike Monteiro

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Mike Monteiro is the co-founder and design director of Mule Design in San Francisco. He prefers that designers have strong spines. Mike writes and speaks frequently about the craft, ethics, and business of design.

He loves design so much he wrote three books on the topic, Design is a Job, You’re My Favorite Client (both available from A Book Apart) and Ruined by Design. Mike received the 2014 Net award for Conference Talk of the Year for his inspirational polemic on responsibility, “How Designers Destroyed the World.”

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784 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book insightful, with one noting it addresses an important point, and consider it necessary reading. Moreover, the book receives positive feedback for its design knowledge, with one customer highlighting its call to action for designers, and its pacing, with one describing it as incisive. Additionally, customers appreciate its darkly humorous tone. However, one customer mentions the book tends to go on rants and repetition.

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Insight Readability Design knowledge Pacing Humor Rambling content

20 customers mention "Insight"15 positive5 negative

Customers find the book insightful, with several noting that the ideas presented are interesting.

"...Good reading and food for thought and really a book that must be read by all people involved in the design of products (not just digital ones),..." Read more

"...is incredibly funny, but beneath the humor is an urgency and a deep love of humanity that is woefully absent in a lot of tech literature out there...." Read more

"...Didnt feel very useful or deep" Read more

"...This book it's a powerful call to wake up and fight." Read more

18 customers mention "Readability"18 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and consider it necessary reading.

"...Monteiro's dark humor and clever framing makes this a good read for anyone looking to understand how things got so messy and who is best poised to..." Read more

"...Good reading and food for thought and really a book that must be read by all people involved in the design of products (not just digital ones),..." Read more

"This is a must read, and if you’re a designer you should probably read Mikes other books too...." Read more

"...yet amusing, it's hard to argue with the primary thrust of this breezy book: designers have an obligation to do the right, ethical thing...." Read more

15 customers mention "Design knowledge"15 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's design knowledge, noting it is an important read for all designers and provides a very real look at the subject.

"...I also believe the design licensing and unionizing ideas are essential, to protect our interests and value as Designers,..." Read more

"...It might also be a useful read for non-designers, as they are often the ones most frustrated by designers trying to "do the right thing."" Read more

"...Design is a job and designers are skilled professionals. Mike is right, we must do better." Read more

"This is a must-read for anyone who designs interactions, things, products--anything, and everyone who works to produce and sell them...." Read more

4 customers mention "Pacing"4 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the pacing of the book, with one describing it as incisive and another noting its fantastic perspective.

"...of society and democracy, but it makes its moral case both eloquently and bluntly — and in a way that speaks directly to anyone who has worked in a..." Read more

"...I loved it so much I bought two copies for my mentees. It is a clear, cogent, and a devastatingly well-researched call to take responsibility for..." Read more

"Well written and captivating, something rare for a design book...." Read more

"Fantastic POV. No BS. The conversation we need to be having." Read more

3 customers mention "Humor"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book darkly humorous.

"...Monteiro's dark humor and clever framing makes this a good read for anyone looking to understand how things got so messy and who is best poised to..." Read more

"...The book is incredibly funny, but beneath the humor is an urgency and a deep love of humanity that is woefully absent in a lot of tech literature..." Read more

"Funny and sad and true..." Read more

4 customers mention "Rambling content"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the book's content rambling and repetitive.

"...My two issues with the book: 1. It tends to go on rants and repetition making the book about 1/3 longer than it could be 2...." Read more

"...His tone is consistent, powerful and affecting throughout. He rambles a bit and repeats himself a lot, but its all in service of a righteous point...." Read more

"...There's no balance between opinion and intellect - the book is a large rant...." Read more

"This is a truthful book but comes off as whiny and repetitive. That being said the meat of the book is valid." Read more

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tonx konecny
Incisive, darkly humorous, and a great read
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2019
Verified Purchase

This isn't the only book pointing out the obvious, that Silicon Valley companies are disrupting a lot more than just old business models and are in fact fracking the foundations of society and democracy, but it makes its moral case both eloquently and bluntly — and in a way that speaks directly to anyone who has worked in a product team building this stuff. Monteiro's dark humor and clever framing makes this a good read for anyone looking to understand how things got so messy and who is best poised to step up and fix it.

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Kasey
Real Design? Read this Book.
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2019
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My friend glances over and says, “Woah - you said this was a design book, but it’s talking about business, lawyers, and politics? I didn’t know Designers [had this much influence].” I smirked wide and remembered they key to the book is that we are gatekeepers, not mere pixel pushers. We do have such influence through our choices.

I let him know, “I’ve been realistically paid more to tell people to stop building dangerous things and to educate other designers on this, than I have by making screens, and that’s why Mike is similar to me. I want this outlook to be the new design norm.”

I also believe the design licensing and unionizing ideas are essential, to protect our interests and value as Designers, (and to protect the general public, adhering to local & global safety)!

P.S. Pretty please let me into the private Slack channel! Kasey.pirate@gmail.com / @bitpixi on Twitter

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17 people found this helpful

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Diego G Schmunis
If you work in tech it’s worth the reading, but...
Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2019
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The book addresses a very important point: the ethics that we follow or lack to follow in how we design products and how we take into account (or not) the impact of those design decisions.

Good reading and food for thought and really a book that must be read by all people involved in the design of products (not just digital ones), although the author seems to think that ONLY designers should be the gatekeepers. I’d disagree with that. As a Product Manager is my job to be a gatekeeper as much as for those in Sales, Marketing, etc.

My two issues with the book:
1. It tends to go on rants and repetition making the book about 1/3 longer than it could be
2. As much as it’s deserved, the author overuses two tech companies over and over again to emphasis his point, where in reality there are so many “guilty” parties

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5 people found this helpful

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Butts Hamstring
The Anti-"Tech Bro" Manifesto
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2020
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As a designer and manager of designers, I found this book to be extremely necessary. I loved it so much I bought two copies for my mentees. It is a clear, cogent, and a devastatingly well-researched call to take responsibility for what we put out in the world. The book is incredibly funny, but beneath the humor is an urgency and a deep love of humanity that is woefully absent in a lot of tech literature out there. Everyone needs to buy this book and internalize the message before we design a world-sized coffin none of us will escape from.

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Adam B. Cummins
This is a must read!
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2022
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This is a must read, and if you’re a designer you should probably read Mikes other books too. It’s the right thing for the right reason and it might be your last chance to heed the warning life has been bombarding you with for years.

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One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer
Repetitive
Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2024
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The book has one argument about designers being gate keepers and it was stretched all along. Didnt feel very useful or deep

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One person found this helpful

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Michael A. Gunderloy
Engineering ethics should not be this surprising
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2019
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Those who ding this work because it's an unabashedly political rant and call to arms are, I think, completely missing the point. Many designers (and by that term Monteiro and I both include everyone who designs things, including software developers and product managers as well as UI/UX professionals) have become utterly complicit in the unethical practices of the venture-capital fueled giant tech companies, and it's time for this to just stop. If you don't agree with that statement, you might as well not read this book. But if you do agree (and I happen to be on that side of the argument), this is a fairly short summary of the mess we're in, together with a few thoughts on how we might get out of it. I've certainly been guilty of designing bad things in the past - my stint at a combined multi-level marketing/adware company springs quickly to mind - but I've finally reached a point (either in my maturity or my career) where I have deliberately turned my back on that path. At this point I rate working on software that actually makes the world a better place far above squeezing money out of bigger fools. I hope that becomes a trend, though I fear that it will not.

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9 people found this helpful

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mmcwatters
You'll either nod in agreement or shake your head in frustration
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2020
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Monteiro is a vocal and often outrageous firebrand, so it's no surprise that his book follows suit. He's written a manifesto for the modern designer, a call to arms, so to speak. While some will argue with his style, which I find brash yet amusing, it's hard to argue with the primary thrust of this breezy book: designers have an obligation to do the right, ethical thing.

If I have any concerns about the book, it's that it feels a bit like preaching to the choir. As someone who's long advocated that all design is political, and that good design is responsible and humane, there are no big surprises in Monteiro's books, no major a-ha moments. Nonetheless, I think this is an important read for any designer starting out, and perhaps a good refresher for veterans. It might also be a useful read for non-designers, as they are often the ones most frustrated by designers trying to "do the right thing."

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2 people found this helpful

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Andrei
Excellent points slightly let down by Author's rant-like delivery
Reviewed in Australia on September 24, 2020
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As simple as the headline states: Mike highlights a number of examples of how the design practice's lack of full-circle consideration and capitalistic bias has led to consequences well beyond the short-sighted goals of improving engagement. However, the delivery carries a constant undertone of frustration and anger, which – although justified – tends to pepper the message's flavour with more spice than needed. However, the core points of the author are undeniable, and this book should be read by every person who is involved in the making and consuming of products: from the folks at the top, through the people that build the things, to the end customers.

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Simone
Troppo lungo rispetto ai contenuti
Reviewed in Italy on July 13, 2020
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Tutti i concetti espressi sono condivisibili e sacrosanti, purtroppo però mi sembra che l'autore si sia un po' perso nell'esprimerli. Probabilmente se il libro avrebbe potuto essere lungo la metà senza perdere alcun contenuto. Dopo la terza volta che leggi che l'essere designer è una missione, che in quanto designer hai delle responsibilità e che Facebook e Twitter sono il male inizi un po' ad annoiarti.

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Elba
The read we need, and probably the one we deserved years ago, is here.
Reviewed in Mexico on December 31, 2019
Verified Purchase
Cynical. Honest. Direct. What's not to love?
The dialogue for this argument on how every aspect of our daily lives is design - or the 'lack' of - is eye opening.
Designer? Pick this one now. 'Non-designer'? Pick it too.

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Samuel Hutchings
The World is Ruined By Design.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2019
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In this book, Mike takes the task the generations of designers who have let terrible things happen on their watch. From the Facebook designers who allow the company to harvest all of our data, to the designers of cages to put immigrant children in. At every level, Designers have both helped and hindered humanity, and the latter often feels like it’s winning.

Read this book if you’re interested in how you, as a designer, can make the world a better place for humanity. And definitely read this book if you work at the companies we often see as worst offenders: Facebook, Twitter, Google.

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トビン　マイケル
Good ideas, unorganized presentation
Reviewed in Japan on May 23, 2019
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I’ve enjoyed Mike’s talks and so was looking forward to reading this book; the chapter “Ayn Rand was a Dick” was even excerpted online and convinced me this would be a good read.

Unfortunately, much of the book doesn’t look at specific cases of how design ruined the world, but is rather a screed on the fact that designers have shirked their responsibilities. During much of the book, I felt the same sentiments being repeated over and over again. I didn’t feel I was being presented with new ideas. The book reads like a presentation to a roomful of designers instead of a well-edited book.

As the title of my review says, there are many good ideas in this book. Mike has obviously given the subject a lot of thought, and is indisputably passionate on the topic. The ideas of unionizing and licensing designers are salient and thought provoking. I like the ideas. It just didn’t have to take a few hundred pages.

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