What does anti-racist tech look like? – brief

Now it’s time for your peer graded assignment for this course. So far you’ve explored several examples and gathered inspiration, it’s time for you to get creative and share your ideas for anti-racist technology.

For this assignment, you have two options, you can either:

• write about an idea you’ve had for anti-racist technology.
• propose an alternative to one of the technologies mentioned previously

Some of the technologies mentioned so far are as follows:

• Mariott Hotel soap dispensers
• Speech recognition tech
• Facebook housing ads
• US healthcare algorithm
• Twitter image cropping

Assignment brief:

In the next step, you will begin your peer graded assignment for this course by proposing your own idea or alternative to one of the technologies mentioned previously for a technology that actively promotes anti-racism. In developing your idea think about how your technology will solve a problem for the people you are designing for. Much in the same way you did on ‘Gender Inclusive Approaches in Technology’, by taking part in this assignment and imagining new futures for technology we can attempt to move beyond problems in the present.

Assignment requirements

The assignment is split into 4 tasks, in the submission step, you will see prompts to submit 4 different tasks.

Task prompt 4: What technology have you chosen to focus on?

Task prompt 2: Who is your design for?

Task prompt 3: What problem is it solving?

Task prompt 4: How does it promote anti-racism?

Each task has a maximum of two points available which are detailed below. You will use the same criteria to grade your peers work. Spelling and grammar are not part of the marking criteria.

Task prompt 1: What technology have you chosen to focus on?

Summarise in 100 words or less which technology you have chosen to focus on, whether that’s your own idea or an alternative to one of the technologies mentioned previously.

There is a maximum of two points for this task:

• (2 points) – Clearly summarises which technology you will focus on.
• (1 point) – Partially summarises which technology you will focus on.
• (0 points) – Missing or incomplete.

Task prompt 2: Who is your design for and why?

Summarise in 150 words or less who you will be designing for and why you have chosen to design for this group?

There is a maximum of two points for this task:

• (2 points) – Clearly summarise who you will be designing for and why.
• (1 point) – Partially summarise who you will be designing for and why.
• (0 points) – Missing or incomplete.

Task Prompt 3: What problem is it solving?

Summarise in 150 words or less in what way your design solves a problem for the people you are designing for.

There is a maximum of two points for this task:

• (2 points) – Clearly summarises how your design solves a problem for the people you are designing for.
• (1 point) – Partially summarises how your design solves a problem for the people you are designing for.
• (0 points) – Missing or incomplete.

Task prompt 4: How does it promote anti-racism?

Summarise in 150 words or less how your design actively promotes anti-racism.

There is a maximum of two points for this task:

• (2 points) – Clearly summarises how your design promotes anti-racism.
• (1 point) – Partially summarises how your design promotes anti-racism.
• (0 Points) – Missing or incomplete.

Continue to the next step to begin your assignment.