Yee-haw! The wild west of user research ethics

‘Yee haw! The wild west of user research ethics’ is a workshop game and discussion tool designed to help people imagine what user research ethics could look like in the future. Yee haw! is useful for people who want to discuss, imagine, and create ethical user research practices in public sector organisations. Originally designed for SDinGov 2024, Yee haw! can easily be adapted for different contexts and can be played with researchers and non-researchers alike. 

The game is called ‘Yee haw! The wild west of user research ethics’, not because user researchers are wildly unethical but because user research does not have an agreed framework or consistent approach for ethics. As user research tries to find its place alongside longer-established and overlapping practices in the public sector like social research, medical research, Quality Improvement, or citizen participation, it can find itself in a wild west. 

I designed Yee-haw with Soh-yon Park to reflect our experiences as user researchers in the NHS and various central government departments. We have noticed that a lack consistency in user research ethics has resulted in:

• Questions about the legitimacy of user research
• User research plans being subjected to inappropriate ethics governance 
• User research plans going ahead with little or no ethics process
• User researchers feeling uncomfortable and unsupported in their jobs.

Yee-haw is a rules light, collaborative game that brings together a number of things that make tabletop roleplaying games so effective for imagining and experiencing social change and different futures: 

• Creating space for growth through imagination to aid in practicing new skills, facing fears, and gaining confidence for addressing things in real life
• Helping players explore self-expression by experimenting with hidden aspects of themselves and trying out new roles 
• Encouraging people to imagine different perspectives and experiences through story and roleplay
• Strengthening strategic skills through collaborative decision-making, systemic thinking, and problem solving 
• Providing a creative outlet to process emotions, reflect on workplace dynamics, and rehearse responses to real-world challenges
• Foster connection and community by bringing people together through shared storytelling and co-creation of new worlds. 

Try Yee-haw for yourself! You can download all the workshop material below under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 4.0. Start with the facilitator script to understand how the game works and to organise your own workshop around the game. All you need a 20-sided die and creative moxie and you’re ready to create new ethical futures for user research!