Consequence Design

What is Consequence Design?

Consequence Design is a framework for examining the gap between intention and impact in digital systems. It asks not just what technologies do, but what they make possible—and what they make invisible. It emerged as a response to the increasingly frictionless logic of platform capitalism and the bureaucratic theater of civic tech, offering a way to account for unintended effects, eroded autonomy, and systemic obfuscation. It’s not a design method. It’s a way of seeing.

Origins

Consequence Design began as a set of notes during a time of institutional fragility and techno-optimist overreach. What started as interaction cartography—an attempt to map friction in user interfaces—evolved into something deeper: a method for naming the patterns of harm and hollowing that emerge when interfaces become policy.

It is both a critique and a call to design with awareness of the systems we touch.

About Me

I'm Ron Bronson—an interaction architect, strategist, and critical theorist focused on complexity, public infrastructure, and institutional resilience.

My background spans government service delivery, AI policy, and design leadership, with roles ranging from Chief of Staff for a federal digital agency to faculty teaching at the intersection of design and governance. I’ve led strategic transformation at multiple levels and now focus on helping people see the bigger picture when systems go quiet, fail, or scale in ways we don’t expect.

Consequence Design is where my critical work lives. It’s the theoretical backbone behind my consulting practice, writing, and teaching.

Core Ideas

• Context Collapse: Systems behave differently when they lose sight of their original context. Platforms flatten nuance and standardize interaction.
• Interface Traps: UIs can obscure power, enforce compliance, and prevent meaningful alternatives. Design becomes destiny when friction is removed selectively.
• Consequence vs. Intention: Most systems aren’t designed to harm—but their consequences still do. This gap is rarely seen, much less addressed.
• Mediated Harm: Technology intermediates more than interaction—it mediates power, participation, and visibility. Understanding harm means mapping mediation.

Where It’s Going

While Consequence Design began as a loose collection of notes, it has since evolved into a broader theoretical base. Many of the newer writings now live at OutOfScopeMag.com, a home for ongoing research and reflection.

The frameworks developed here continue to inform my speaking, teaching, and consulting work. This page remains as a record, a resource, and a reference point for anyone tracing the lineage of these ideas.