There are ethical and professional responsibilities that software engineers should follow in building applications. To begin with, inclusivity and accessibility is very important. For example, my team intended to design an app that is inclusive to pet owners. It is a struggle for pet owners to book flights for them and their pets, and our team came up with the solution, PetJett which gives users pet friendly airline services to choose from. However, it is also important for our team to consider the pros and cons of this application in terms of ethics. If we design an app that promotes animals on planes, on a larger scale, how would others react to this, and will there be black lash in terms of safety and/or health concerns onboard.
In terms of accessibility, it is important to create an application that has a simple user-friendly design, and we were able to execute this with the help of standard HTML templates and traditional website designs which were provided. In addition, it is essential for any website or application to be secure for the users. This means, if we decide to go further to implement our product, we must take account of password encrypting/decrypting and all personal data and information to maintain the integrity of our application. On another note, software engineers should try to design products with the best interest of the users. An ongoing issue on most applications is also the psychological effect they can cause in the users. Most apps are designed for users to enjoy it, use it and keep using it. On shopping apps or a plane booking app, this would be a points system, or implementing coupons on the application to keep users interested. On social media apps like TikTok or Meta, the social engineering aspect to get the app popular, became a detriment to teenagers worldwide. Developers also do this in video games to make the app addictive with gatcha techniques which is similar to gambling, pay to win aspects, or intentionally creating addictive gameplay. Many can argue that the developers should take responsibility for issues that begot, but that is up to debate. From an economic point of view, if the user enjoys the app, uses it, and pays, it’s a win-win situation.