Addicting Kids by Design

CNBC: Jury in Los Angeles finds Meta, YouTube negligent in social media addiction trial

The design industry is built on the premise that decisions about information architecture, delight, and usability are in service of the user. This trial introduced a simpler question: in service of which user? The one holding the phone, or the one purchasing their attention? When those two users have different interests — and in the case of a child and an advertiser, they always do — design doesn’t stay neutral.