Ethics vs. morality vs. compliance

Understanding the distinction between ethics, morality, and compliance helps product teams navigate complex decisions. Compliance involves following laws and regulations — the baseline requirement for any product. Ethics encompasses professional standards and principles specific to product development, like respecting user privacy even when legally allowed to exploit it. Morality represents deeper personal values about right and wrong that guide individual decisions.

These 3 layers often overlap but can conflict. A feature might be legally compliant yet violate ethical standards, like using dark patterns that technically follow disclosure laws but deliberately confuse users. Similarly, professional ethics might permit practices that individual team members find morally troubling, such as building addictive features that maximize engagement.

Product teams need frameworks for navigating these tensions. Start with compliance as the foundation, layer on professional ethical standards, then encourage open dialogue about moral concerns. When conflicts arise, transparency and user benefit should guide decisions. Document ethical choices and their rationale to build institutional knowledge and accountability.